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BOOKS   AND   STATIONERY. 


The  following  Catalogue  of  BOOKS  AND  STATIONERY  embraces 
a  small  portion  of  the  large  assortment,  always  for  sale  at  the 
lowest  prices,  by  HARROLD  &  MURRAY, 

Broad  Street,  Riceuoks. 

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and  Johnston's. 

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Brown's. 

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Melodist,  &c. 

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D'Aubigne's  Works,  Cowper's,  Milton's,  Young's,  Pollock's,  Byron's, 
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Paint  Brushes,  Enyelopes,  &c.  &c. 


CHURCH  POLITY: 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  CHRIST, 


INTEBNALAKD  EXTERNAL  DEYELOPMENT. 


By  J.  L.  -REYNOLDS, 

Pastor  of  the  Second  BaptUt  Church,  Richmond,  Ta. 


RICHMOND,  VA. 

HARROLD  &  MURRAY,  BROAD  STREET. 

1849.  " 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1849, 

by  Harrold  &  Murray, 
|p  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  DUtricj;  Court  of  the  United  < 

States  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Virginia. 


♦  J 

•  -  • 


v 


s 


PREFACE 


h 


Church  Polity  has  become  the  absorbing  topic  of  the 
Christian  world.  In  common  Tvith  all  thinking  men,  I 
have  devoted  considerable  time  to  its  examination ;  and 
have  made  some  progress  in  the  preparation  of  a  vol- 
ume with  the  design  of  exhibiting  the  polity  of  the  New 
Testament,  and  tracing  the  gradual  departures  from  it 
in  the  churches  which  succeeded  those  planted  by  the 
apostles.  The  completion  of  the  work,  on  the  plan  pro- 
posed, will  require  several  years,  even  under  circum- 
stances the  most  favorable  to  the  prosecution  of  my 
labors.  Perhaps  I  may  not  complete  it  at  all.  I  have, 
therefore,  yielded  the  more  readily  to  the  suggestion 
of  my  worthy  friend,  the  editor  of  the  Periodical  Lib- 
rary, to  prepare  a  smaller  work,  which  is  now  sub- 
mitted to  the  public.  May  the  great  Shepherd  and 
Bishop  of  souls  bless  it  to  the  instruction  of  the  flock, 
for  which  he  labored  and  died. 

The  Author. 

Mercer  University,  July,  1846. 


PREFACE  TO  SECOND  EDITION. 

The  favorable  reception  with  which  this  little  book  has 
met,  has  encouraged  me  to  prepare  a  new  and  eillarged 
edition,  which  is  now  offered  to  the  public,  with  the 
hope  that  it  may  contribute  to  the  diffusi^  of  correct 
sentiments  on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats. 

J.  L.  Reynolds. 

Richmond,  ^August,  1848. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 
Statement  of  the  subject,  - 1 

CHAPTER  II. 
Sources  of  Proof,  _       -       •  -        -        -     18 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Church  of  Christ,       ------  82 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Particular  Churches,     -...----     49 

j^  CHAPTER  V. 

A  Church,  a  Single  Local  Society,   -       -       -       -         51 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Members  of  a  Church,  ---.,.     55 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Rights  of  a  Church,  -       ...       -         (57 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Independence  of  the  Churches,    -----     98 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Officers  of  a  Church,         *....-       105 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. 
Identity  of  Bishops  and  Elders, 119 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Rights  and  Duties  of  Bishops,         -       -       -       -        127 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Deaconship,   --------134 

CHAPTER  Xm. 
Ordination, --       140 

CHAPTER  XrV. 
Baptism, -..    145 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Lord's  Supper,  -       -       -       -       .  *     -       .       203 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Halation  of  Churches  to  each  other.    -       .       -       .    212 

CHAPTER  !XVII. 

Advantages  of  Scriptural  Church  Polity,         -       -       218 

CHAPTER  XVIII.  t 

Corruption  of  Scriptural  Church  Polity,      -       -       -    228 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  CHEIST. 


CHAPTER   I. 

8TATEMEXT  OF  THE  SUBJECT. 

When  Christ  uttered,  in  the  judgment  hall  of 
Pilate,  the  remarkable  words — "I  am  a  king,"* 
he  pronounced  a  sentiment  fraught  with  unspeaka- 
ble dignity  and  power.  His  enemies  might  deride 
his  pretensions  and  express  their  mockery  of  his 
claim,  by  presenting  him  with  a  crown  of  thorns,  a 
reed  and  a  purple  robe,  and  nailing  him  to  the 
cross ;  but  in  the  eyes  of  unfallen  intelligences,  he 
was  a  king.  A  higher  power  presided  over  that 
derisfve  ceremony,  and  converted  it  into  a  real 
coronation.  That  crown  of  thorns  was  indeed  the 
diadem  of  empire  ;  that  purple  robe  was  the  bad^ " 
of  royalty ;  that  fragile  reed  was  the  symbol  © 
unbounded  power ;  and  that  cross  the  throne  of  " 
dominion  which  shall  never  end. 

♦  John  18 :  37. 


2  CHURCH   POLITY. 

This  pregnant  truth  contained  the  fulfilment  of 
the  hopes  which  had  cheered  mankind  through  all 
previous  generations.  When  our  first  parents  had 
broken  the  covenant,  graciously  made  with  them  hy 
their  Creator,  and  were  expelled  from  the  garden  of 
Paradise,  they  hore  with  them  the  seeds  of  a  glo- 
rious promise,  which,  scattered  by  their  posterity 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  sprung  up  in  the 
form  of  a  general  expectation  of  a  golden  age ;  * 
and,  entrusted  to  a  particular  race,  inspired  them 
with  the  confident  hope  that  a  deliverer  would  after- 
wards arise,  who,  assuming  the  position  and  respon- 
sibilities of  the  second  Adam,  would  arrest  the 
dominion  of  sin  and  death,  and  gather  together  the 
covenant  people  into  a  kingdom  of  holiness  and  love. 

The  promise  which  was  committed  to  our  first 
parents,  when  they  traced,  with  lingering  footsteps, 
the  path  of  their  departure  from  paradise,  was 
entrusted,  as  a  special  mark  of  the  divine  fevor,  to 
Abraham  and  his  seed ;  and,  in  its  subsequent  an- 
nouncement and  corroboration,  still  further  limited 
to  Isaac,  to  Jacob,  and  finally  to  David,  who  was 
chosen  of  God  as  the  favored  individual  in  whose 
lineage  should  appear  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Ju- 

aah. 

This  conception  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom  was 
still  further  developed  and  amplified  by  the  prophets, 

•  Hengstenberg's  Christology,  1,  p.  14-19. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  3 

a  succession  of  inspired  men,  from  Samuel  to 
Malachi,  who  sustained  a  most  important  relation  to 
the  Jewish  Theocracy.  While  to  the  priests  were 
committed  the  direction  and  support  of  the  ritual 
service,  the  external  worship  of  Jehovah,  it  was  the 
main  design  of  the  prophets  to  cherish  and  diflFiise  a 
theocratic  spirit,  by  which  the  people  might  be  re- 
tained in  loyalty  to  their  invisible  king.  In  this 
elevated  sphere  were  their  functions  discharged,  and 
to  this  end  were  their  labors  directed.  They  may 
thus  be  considered  the  forerunners  and  prototypes  of 
the  ministers  of  the  Christian  dispensation.* 

In  the  discharge  of  their  high  functions,  the 
prophets  announced  the  coming  of  the  Messiah  ; 
predicted  the  time  of  his  appearance ;  and,  grouping 
together  the  most  striking  and  imposing  characteris- 
tics of  earthly  sovereignties,  presented  a  magnificent 
picture  of  his  spiritual  kingdom,  and  of  the  happiness 
which  the  nations  would  enjoy  under  his  mild  and 
equitable  reign.  This  happy  period  would  be 
signalized  by  the  restoration  of  the  long  lost  harmony 
between  Judah  and  Israel,  and  the  entrance  of  the 

•  Der  Prophetismus  der  Hebraftr  von  A.  Knobel.  Th.  I. 
S.  II.  Baumgarten-Crusiua'  Biblische  Theologic,  §  6,  1. 
"The  primary  notion  of  a  prophet,"  says  Stillingfleet, 
"  doth  not  lie  in  foretelling  future  events,  but  in  declaring 
and  interpreting  to  the  world  the  mind  of  God,  which  he 
receives  by  immediate  revelation  from  himself."  Origines 
Sacrse,  B.  II.  chap.  5th.    Stuart  on  the  O.  T.  p.  90,  note. 


4  CUURCH    POLITY. 

Gentiles  within  the  fold  of  the  people  of  God.  The 
kingdom  of  the  Messiah  was  not  to  be  limited  by 
geographical  divisions,  nor  restricted  to  a  peculiar 
nation.  The  whole  world  was  to  be  invited  to  its 
privileges,  and  all  nations  made  to  share  in  its 
blessings.*  The  meet  opulent  earthly  kingdoms 
had  perished,  and  the  most  powerful  dynasties  been 
destroyed ;  even  Judah  and  Israel,  though  blessed 
with  divine  protection  and  guidance,  had  bowed 
their  necks  to  the  oppressor,  and  gone  into  captivity ; 
but  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah  would  never  perish, 
and  of  his  government  there  would  be  no  end.  The 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  were  to  be  its  bounda- 
ries, and  eternity  the  measure  of  its  duration. f 

When  the  fulness  of  the  time  was  come,  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  appeared,  and  appropriated  these  predic- 
tions of  the  Messiah  to  himself.  In  striking  harmony 
with  the  theocratic  representations  of  the  prophets, 
he  denominated  the  dispensation  which  he  introduced, 
'•  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  "| 

•  Jer.  30:  4,  9;  Eze.  37:  24;  Hos.  1:  10;  Isaiah  11: 
10 ;  and  Dan.  7 :  14. 

t  Twesten's  Dogmatik,  I.  S.  323.  Knapp's  Theol.  §  91. 
For  a  full  examination  of  the  Messianic  predictions  of  the 
O.  T.  see  Hengstenberg's  Christology. 

J  The  word  in  the  original,  which  is  translated  kingdom, 
is  equivalent  to  kingly  authority ;  and  this  expression,  modi- 
fied according  to  the  context,  may  generally  be  substituted 
for  it.  Dr.  Dagg's  interpretation  of  John  3 :  5,  pp.  9,  23. 
The  expression,  kingdom  of  heaven,  is  a  periphrasis  for  the 


CHURCH   POLITY.  9 

and  claimed  the  honor  and  allegiance  due  to  a  divine 
messenger.  Attesting  his  mission  by  infallible 
signs,  and  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  pow- 
er by  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  he  stood  forth, 
in  virtue  of  his  divinity  and  the  appointment  of  the 
Father,  the  head  of  that  spiritual  kingdom,  of  which 
the  Jewish  theocracy  was  but  a  feeble  type.* 

The  predictions  of  the  prophets  and  the  admoni- 

Chriatian  state  or  dispensation,  and  is  evidently  derired  from 
the  mode  of  thought  and  speech  common  to  the  Jews. 
"  The  God  Jehovah  was  their  proper  king,  supreme  over 
their  state  and  nation.  He  governed  them  through  the 
instrumentality  of  human  regents  and  deputed  kings. 

Their  constitution  was  theocratic,  to  make  use  of  a  happy 
term,  first  applied  to  the  subject  by  Josephus.  Hence, 
the  Israelitish  state  and  nation  are  called  the  possession, 
and  the  peculiar  people  of  Jehovah :  as  Ex.  19 :  6 ;  Psalms 
114  :  2.  In  the  same  way  the  later  Jews  applied  the  phrase, 
kingdom  of  God,  or  of  heaven :  vid.  Schoettgen,  de  regno 
coelorum,  (Hor.  Heb.  T.  I.  extr.) ;  and  "Wetstein  on  Matt. 
21 :  25."  Knapp's  Theology,  §  99.  (1.)  vid.  Bland  on  Matt. 
3  :  2.     Campbell  on  the  Gospels,  Diss.  5,  part  1. 

The  Lexicons  have  blundered  sadly  on  this  phrase. 
Tholuck,  after  an  elaborate  criticism  on  Wahl,  Bretschnei- 
der,  and  others,  gives  the  following  as  the  true  definition : 
"  Christ  designates,  by  '  the  kingdom  of  heaven,'  the  com- 
munity of  those,  who,  united  through  his  Spirit  under  him 
as  the  head,  rejoice  in  the  truth  and  enjoy  a  holy  and  bliss- 
ful life  ;  all  of  which  is  effected  through  communion  with 
him."  Biblical  Repository,  I,  p.  567.  Christian  Review, 
IV.,  p.  380.    Even  this  is  a  partial  view. 

•John  4:  25—26  ;  9:  35,  37;  Matt.  26  :  63,  64;  16:  16— 
17;  27:  11. 

1* 


6  CHURCH  POLITY. 

tions  of  Jesus  were  sufficiently  perspicuous  to  have 
prevented  the  formation  of  erroneous  opinions  with 
respect  to  the  nature  of  this  kingdom.  Christ  de- 
clared explicitly  that  he  claimed  not  to  be  an  earthly 
monarch ;  refused  to  bo  made  king  ;  *  and  proved, 
by  many  incidents  in  his  life,  how  little  he  thought 
of  interfering  with  the  civil  concerns  of  men.f  In 
immediate  connection  with  the  assertion  of  his  roy- 
alty, he  declares  that  his  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world.  J  And  as  if  to  relieve  the  minds  of  his 
disciples  of  all  doubt  on  the  subject,  he  predicted 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  overthrow  of 
the  Jewish  political  state.  || 

The  history  of  our  race  has  developed  nothing 
more  clearly,  than  the  tenacity  with  which  the  mind 
clings  to  errors  which  are  sanctioned  by  universal 
belief,  and  hallowed  by  venerable  associations.  Not- 
withstanding our  Lord's  unambiguous  language,  with 
respect  to  the  nature  of  his  kingdom,  his  followers 
continued,  up  to  the  period  of  his  ascension, §  deeply 
tinged  with  the  Jewish  notion  of  the  Messiah ;  and 
few  of  them  rose  to  the  elevated  conception  of  a 
spiritual  economy,  which,  obliterating  all  national 
distinctions,  and  swaying  its  sceptre  over  the  souls 
of  men,  would  dispense  to  Jew  and  Gentile  alike, 


•  John  6 :  16.        f  Matt.  17 :  24  ;  22 :  21 ;  Luke  12 :  13. 
+  John  18 :  36.  ||  Luke  19 :  43.  §  Acts  1 :  6. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  7 

its  healing  and  saving  influence.  Long  after  the 
disciples  had  attained  and  promulgated  correct 
views  on  this  subject,  the  old  Judaizing  leaven  con- 
tinued to  work.  A  large  number  of  the  early  pro- 
fessors of  Christianity,  including  several  distinguished 
fathers,  were  persuaded  into  an  expectation  of  the 
temporal  reign  of  Christ ;  *  and  Chilaism,  although 
repeatedly  convicted  of  folly  and  delusion,  has 
subsequently  appeared,  at  intervals,  in  the  history 
of  the  Church,  and  numbered  multitudes  among  the 
victims  of  its  gross  hallucinations.  Its  latest  mo- 
dem development,  Millerism,  has  just  spent  its 
force  in  our  own  country. 

As  the  reign  of  Christ  has  primary  reference  to 
the  human  race,  the  Messiah  appeared  in  human 
form.  By  his  mysterious  incarnation,  he  formed 
the  connecting  link  between  the  subjects  of  his 
kingdom  and  himself,  allying  his  divine  nature  to 
theirs,  and  making  them  partakers  of  his  own. 
Every  real  member  of  Christ's  kingdom  bears  the 
likeness  of  its  great  king.  As  '*  the  habitation  of 
God  through  the  spirit,"  the  divine  and  the  human 
are  united  in  him.  It  is  also  a  necessary  inference, 
from  the  principle  which  was  stated  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  paragraph,  that  the  instrumentality  by 
which  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  promoted  among 

*  Lehrbuch  der  Dogmengescbichte  Ton  Dr.  F.  H.  Meier, 
§32. 


8  CHURCH   POLITY. 

men  must  be  material  as  well  as  spiritual,  human  as 
well  as  divine.  These  divine  and  spiritual  elements 
in  its  organization,  are  not  cognizable  by  the  senses, 
and  must,  of  course,  be  invisible.  It  is  only  in 
reference  to  its  human  or  material  elements  that  it 
becomes  visible.  Its  local  and  temporal  develop- 
ments are  visible,  but  its  efficient  agencies  and 
ultimate  ends  are  spiritual.  Wherever  the  phrases 
which  designate  the  Messiah's  reign,  occur  in  the 
Scriptures,  they  refer  to  it  under  the  one  or  the  other 
of  these  aspects.  The  idea  of  a  visible  kingdom  of 
Christ,  as  embodied  in  the  visible  church,  is  foreign 
to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  New  Testament.* 

The  late  Dr.  Mason,  in  a  workf  which  is  distin- 
guished for  the  confidence  with  which  he  asserts  his 
sentiments,  rather  than  the  conclusiveness  of  his 
reasoning*  or  the  correctness  of  his  principles  of 
interpretation,  maintains  that  by  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  designed  the  " external  visible  church." 
"  This,"  he  contends,  "  can  be  but  one,  or  else  it 
would  not  be  a  kingdom,  and  the  kingdom,  but  sev- 
eral. And  this  one  must  be  visible,  because  its 
ordinances  are  administered  by  visible  agency."   To 

•  Robinson  in  his  Lexicon,  p.  130,  has  assigned  this 
meaning  to  the  phrase,  but  the  texts  he  cites  fail  to  estab- 
lish it.— e.  g.  Matt.  6 :  10,  manifestly  relates  to  the  spiritual 
reign  of  Christ.  Schleusner  does  the  same.  Pasor  is  more 
correct. 

t  Essays  on  the  Church  Ifew  York,  1843,  p.  18. 


CHORCH   POLITY.  \J 

prove  his  position,  the  excellent  author  relies  upon 
several  passages  of  Scripture,  particularly  those 
parables  in  which  an  analogy  is  suggested  between 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  usages  of  common  life.* 
His  argument  is  founded  upon  an  erroneous  view  of 
the  nature  and  design  of  a  parable,  and  especially 
of  those  which  he  cites  in  support  of  his  position. 
"The  parables  of  the  Saviour,"  as  Neander  has 
remarked,  "  we  may  define  as  representations,  by 
which  the  truths,  relating  to  the  kingdom  of  God, 
are  exhibited  in  a  vivid  manner  to  the  eye  of  the 
mind,  by  means  of  special  relations  and  analogies 
of  common  life,  whether  derived  from  nature  or  the 
world  of  mankind."!  I*  was  no  part  of  his  design, 
in  any  of  them,  to  present  an  exact  representation 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  considered  as  a  unit,  but 
simply  to  illustrate  some  particular  truth  connected 
with  the  christian  dispensation.  To  attempt  to 
press  the  analogy  beyond  its  legitimate  limits,  and 
find  a  specific  correspondence  between  each  point  in 
the  narrative  or  fact  and  the  Messiah's  kingdom,  is 
conti-ary  to  the  most  approved  principles  of  in- 
terpretation. For  illustration,  it  is  simply  neces- 
sary to  refer  to  two  parables,  which  occur  in 
immediate    connection  with   those   which   Dr.  M. 


♦Matt.  13:  24,  30,  47,  50;  16:  19;   25:  1;  28:  19,20; 
John  20  :  21,  23. 
t  Christian  Review,  vol.  8,  p.  202. 


10  CITOKCH  POLITY. 

has  cited.  The  parables  of  the  mustard  seed 
and  of  the  leaven  are  intended  to  represent  the  dif- 
fusiveness of  genuine  piety,  under  two  different  but 
related  aspects.  There  is  but  one  idea  in  both  of 
them,  though  clothed  in  diflferent  drapery,  and  relat- 
ing to  different  forms  of  development.  The  former 
indicates  the  diffusion  of  piety,  or  the  extension  of  the 
reign  of  heaven  among  masses  of  mankind  ;  the  latter 
refers  to  the  development  of  the  same  principle  in  an 
individual.  There  is,  therefore,  an  analogy  between 
the  mustard  seed  and  the  leaven,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  vital  religion  on  the  other. 

If  we  proceed  to  examine  the  parable  of  the  sow- 
er, upon  which  the  author  relies  with  so  much  con- 
fidence, we  shall  see  that  it  is  susceptible  of  a  simi- 
lar interpretation.  It  teaches  the  important  truth, 
that  in  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  its  pure  and  legi- 
timate effects  would  sometimes  be  mingled  with  for- 
eign admixtures  ;  that  in  those  organizations  which 
would  be  established  for  the  propagation  of  the 
truth,  spurious  professors  would  obtrude  themselves 
among  the  genuine  subjects  of  his  kingdom.  Hu- 
man sagacity  could  not  prevent  this  conjunction, 
but  a  separation  would  be  effected  at  the  end  of  the 
world.  The  parable  of  the  net,  to  which  Dr.  M. 
also  refers,  teaches  the  same  truth. 

Fortunately  we  are  not  left  to  conjecture  here. 
Christ  has  given  his  own  interpretation  of  the  parar 


CaiTBCH  POLITY.  11 

ble  of  the  sower.  He  tells  us  "the  field  is  the 
world,"  not  the  church;  and  "the  children  of  the 
kingdom"  are  distinguished  from  "  the  children  of 
the  wicked  one."  If  it  be  urged  that  these  latter 
are  represented  in  a  subsequent  verse,  as  forming  a 
part  of  his  kingdom,  since  it  is  said  that  the  angels 
shall  "  gather  out  of  his  kingdom  all  things  that 
oflfend,"  it  is  sufficient  to  reply  that  the  royal  au- 
thority of  Christ  extends  over  his  foes  as  well  as 
his  friends.  The  former  may  appear  in  visible 
connection  with  his  genuine  disciples,  but  have 
never  been  recognized  by  him.  Even  if  this  parar 
ble  were  ambiguous,  the  many  passages  of  Scripture, 
in  which  moral  and  spiritual  qualifications  are  men- 
tioned as  indispensable  to  admittance  into  the  king- 
dom of  the  Redeemer,  would  be  sufficient  to  deter- 
mine who  are  his  real  subjects.* 

Great  stress  is  laid,  by  Dr.  M.,t  upon  the  pre- 
dictions in  the  Old  Testament,  in  which  the  kingdom 
of  the  I\Iessiah  is  described.  In  his  judgment 
they  manifestly  refer  to  an  external  visible  commu- 
nity. This  view,  however,  betrays  a  very  imperfect 
apprehension  of  the  nature  of  those  prophecies,  and 
of  just  principles  of  interpretation.  He  sustains 
his  position  only  by  attaching  a  literal  sense  to 
figurative  representations.     The  passages  which  he 

•Mark  10:  15;  John  3:  3;  Col.  1 :  13;  Eph.  6:6;  Matt. 
3 :  2 ;  6  :  3,  &c. 
t  Pages  8—10, 


12  CHURCH    POLITY. 

has  quoted  are  taken  from  the  second  part  of  the 
book  of  Isaiah,*  one  of  the  most  splendid  portions 
of  the  prophetic  writings,  in  which  the  prophet, 
ravished  with  the  glorious  vision  of  the  new  theo- 
cracy, which  the  Spirit  reveals  to  his  mental  gaze, 
portrays  it  in  glowing  language,  and  in  imagery 
derived  from  the  earthly  theocracy,  or  the  kingdoms 
of  the  earth.  A  literal  interpretation  is,  here,  out 
of  the  question.  The  kingdom  which  he  depicts 
can  be  realized  only  in  the  spiritual  theocracy  of  the 
Redeemer.  With  reference  to  chap.  60,  upon  ex- 
pressions in  which  Dr.  M.  relies  with  great  confi- 
dence, it  may  be  said,  without  any  assumption  of 
superior  perspicacity,  in  the  language  of  a  distin- 
guished critic :  —  "It  can  scarcely  be  necessary  to 
remark,  that  the  whole  representation  is  figurative 
throughout. " f  But  Dr.  M.  thinks  that  ' '  that  light, 
which  was  to  shine  upon  the  Gentiles,  and  the 
'brightness'  of  that  *  rising,' which  was  to  attract 
the  'kings,'  must  of  necessity  be  external." — p.  10. 
But  can  any  one,  after  even  a  cursory  glance  at  this 
chapter,  60,  believe  that  this  light  is  a  material, 
visible  light ;  that  the  darkness  which  covers  the 
people  is  its  opposite  in  nature ;  and  that  kings 
will  actually  behold  this  light  ?  It  is  clear  that  the 
terms  are  used  figuratively  —  darkness  being  th# 

•  Isaiah  40-66. 

t  HeQgstenberg's  Chmtology,  toI.  I,  p.  438. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  13 

symbol  of  sin  and  misery  —  ligbt,  of  righteousness 
and  happiness.*  The  chapter  has  no  reference  to  a 
"  visible  church  catholic,"  but  simply  describes  the 
extent  of  the  Messiah's  reign,  and  the  blessings  by 
which  it  would  be  attended. 

This  kingdom  belongs  to  Christ  as  Mediator.  It 
differs  from  his  natural  kingdom,  not  in  the  extent 
of  its  sway,  but  in  the  authority  from  which  it  is 
derived,  and  the  object  for  which  its  government  is 
administered.  As  God,  he  possesses  an  indefeasible 
right  to  rule  the  universe ;  but  as  Mediator,  he 
exercises  his  rule  in  accordance  with  the  provisions 
of  the  covenant  of  grace,  and  administers  the  affairs 
of  his  kingdom  with  special  reference  to  his  chosen 
people. t  This  kingdom  has  been  committed  to 
him  by  the  Father  as  the  reward  of  his  obedience 
unto  death.  As  that  obedience  is  possessed  of  a 
retrospective  efficacy,  and  delivers  from  guilt  and 
condemnation  the  faithful  who  died  before  the  advent 
of  the  Redeemer ;  so  hLs  royal  authority,  which  was 
first  publicly  committed  to  him  at  his  resurrection 
jfrom  the  dead,  was  exercised  in  the  administration 


•  Bosenmtlller  thinks  the  figurative  use  of  these  expres- 
sions is  so  evident  as  scarcely  to  need  notice.  Per  lucem 
Hierosolymae  oriturum  felicem  ejus  statum  significari,  uti 
supra  45  :  75,  8 :  8,  10,  vix  monitu  opus.  Vid.  Scholia  in  V. 
T.  II.  p.  747. 

t  Dick's  Theol.  Lee.  LXIV.  Col.  1 :  15,  19  ;  Heb.  1 :  3, 
14. 

2 


14  CHURCH  POUTY. 

of  his  kingdom  in  every  age.  His  incarnation  was 
only  the  removal  of  his  audience  chamber  to  earth ; 
the  visible  manifestation  of  the  divine  sovereign  ; 
and  his  ascension  to  heaven  was  his  public  corona- 
tion in  the  sight  of  the  universe. 

The  benefits  of  Christ's  kingdom  are  restricted  to 
its  real,  accredited  subjects.  But  for  the  purpose 
of  administering  its  government  and  promoting  its 
interests,  he  has  been  invested  with  all  power  in 
heaven  and  in  earth.*  He  sways  his  sceptro  over 
the  armies  of  heaven,  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth, 
and  the  spirits  of  hell.  All  the  agents  of  the  universe 
are  held  in  his  hand,  and  execute  his  will.  All  will 
be  made  contributors  to  the  promotion  of  his  king- 
dom, and  will  grace  his  final  triumph. 

The  reign  of  the  Redeemer  is  to  be  perpetual. 
Such  is  the  description  given  of  it  in  ancient  proph- 
ecy and  confirmed  by  Christ  and  his  apostles. t  The 
only  apparent  exception  to  the  general  tenor  of  the 
Scriptures,  is  found  in  1  Cor,  15  :  24,  28.  But  even 
this  passage,  upon  a  more  careful  examination,  will 
be  found  to  comport  with  the  representations  which 
are  elsewhere  found  of  the  perpetual  duration  of  the 
Messiah's  kingdom.  The  import  of  this  passage 
seems  to  be,  that  God  has  committed  to  Christ  the 


•  Matt.  28 :  18 ;   Eph.   1 :   22 ;  John  13:3;   Phil.  2 :  9, 
11;   I  Peter  3:   22;   1  Cor.  16:   24,26. 
t  Psalm  45:   6;   Heb.  1:  8;   Psalm  72:   5. 


CHDRCH   POLITY.  15 

govei*nment  of  his  Mie^iatDifal  tfagdoitt  kn$  fiavfested 
him  with  full  power  to  carry  it  on  to  perfection,  hy 
"  placing  all  things  under  his  feet."  His  enemies 
oppose  his  progress  in  vain  ;  for  he  must  finally  tri- 
umph, and  put  down  all  opposing  "  rule,  and  all 
authority  and  power."  When  this  glorious  period 
arrives,  he  will  present  the  kingdom  to  his  Father, 
in  all  the  amplitude  and  splendor  of  a  redeemed  and 
purified  possession.  His  mediatorial  work,  so  far  as 
it  regards  this  world,  will  be  accomplished.  He  will 
then  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  be  satisfied. 
But  lest  it  should  be  supposed  that  he  will  then 
abdicate  his  throne,  and  resign  the  authority  delegat- 
ed to  him  by  the  Father,  the  apostle  adds —  "  And 
when  all  things  shall  be  subdued  unto  him,  then 
shall  the  Son  also  himself  be  subject  unto  him  that 
put  all  things  under  him,  that  God  may  be  all  in 
all."  He  will  still  act  as  the  representative  of  the 
Father,  and  administer  the  government  of  his  king- 
dom in  subservience  to  the  interests  and  happiness 
of  his  redeemed  and  glorified  people.* 

*  It  has  been  supposed  that  the  phraseology  of  the  25th 
verse  implies  the  termination  of  the  reign  of  Christ.  "  He 
must  reign  till,  &c."  But  the  word  does  not  necessarily 
limit  the  reign  of  Christ  to  the  event  specified,  viz :  the 
subjection  of  his  foes.  It  is  said  in  Romans  5 :  13  — "  Until 
the  law,  sin  was  in  the  world,"  But  this  does  not  imply 
that  sin  did  not  exist  after  the  giving  of  the  law.  See  also 
parallel  expressions  in  Genesis  28 :   15 ;   1  Samuel  15 :  35 ; 


16  CHURCH   POLITY. 

The  reign  of  Christ  is  a  subject  of  unspeakable 
dignity  and  interest.  With  it  are  connected  the 
noblest  prospects  and  dearest  hopes  of  mankind. 
Sages  have  dreamed  of  ideal  republics  ;  poets  have 
painted  the  glories  of  a  golden  age  ;  and  the  human 
race,  groaning  under  the  curse  of  sin,  and  burdened 
with  the  accumulated  sorrows  of  earth,  have  earnest- 
ly longed  for  a  period  of  respite  from  grief,  and  a 
state  of  pure  and  permanent  felicity.  Under  the 
dominion  of  the  Redeemer,  these  hopes  are  fulfilled, 
these  expectations  are  realized.  With  the  conde- 
scension that  marks  the  character  of  the  king,  and 
the  unexampled  benignity  which  induced  him,  at 
the  cost  of  his  own  sufferings  and  death,  to  rear  this 
kingdom,  as  an  asylum  for  guilt  and  a  refuge  for 
sorrow,  he  invites  the  nations  to  its  rights  and 
immunities.  The  right  of  citizenship  is  proffered, 
without  distinction  of  clime  or  country,  sex  or  station. 
In  the  distribution  of  its  favors,  no  regard  is  had  to 
Jew  or  Greek,  Barbarian  or  Scythian,  bond  or  free. 
The  possessors  of  uncertain  riches  are  blessed  with 
spiritual  wealth  ;  and  the  poor  are  made  rich  in 
faith,  and  heirs  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  All  its 
subjects  are  the  sons  of  God,  the  redeemed  of 
Christ.     Imbued  with  the  graces  of  heaven,  fum- 

Isaiah  22:  14;  Psalms  112:  8;  1  Timothy  4:  13.  The 
passage  is  similarly  interpreted.  Biblical  Repos.  3,  p.  749- 
755,  and  Am.  Biblical  Repos,  2,  p.  443. 


CHL'BCH    POLITY.  17 

ished  with  every  thing  necessary  to  their  comfort 
and  happiness,  and  favored  with  occasional  glimpses 
of  the  glory  in  reversion,  they  possess,  even  on 
earth,  a  joy  which  is  unspeakable,  and  a  peace  which 
passeth  all  understanding.  And  when  the  reign  of 
Christ  is  fully  consummated,  and  all  his  followers 
have  entered  the  heavenly  world,  they  will  accede 
to  an  inheritance  which  is  as  infinite  in  value,  as  it 
is  interminable  in  duration.  It  is  a  matter  of  vast 
importance,  of  imperative  necessity,  to  every  man 
that  he  be  a  member  of  this  kingdom  of  Christ. 
Admittance  is  granted  and  the  conditions  clearly  de- 
fined. The  king  himself  has  inscribed  over  its  por- 
tal the  solemn  words,  "  Except  a  man  be  born 
again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 


2* 


CHAPTER  II. 


SOURCES    OP   PROOF. 


As  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  a  subject  of  pure 
revelation,  it  may  justly  be  expected  that  every 
thing  pertaining  to  its  nature,  and  to  the  external 
organizations  by  which  its  principles  are  to  be  dif- 
fused among  men,  will  be  found  in  the  inspired 
volume,  in  which  that  revelation  is  deposited.  But 
in  opposition  to  this  obvious  and  rational  inference, 
it  is  asserted  by  many  that  the  Scriptures  contain  no 
specific  directions  with  respect  to  the  outward  de- 
velopment of  Christ's  kingdom — no  form  of  Church 
government.*  If  this  assumption  were  correct,  if 
neither  Christ  nor  his  apostles  had  left  anything  de- 
terminate, with  respect  to  the  earthly  relations  of 
his  church,  but  committed  its  organization  and  man- 
agement entirely  to  fallible  men,  we  should  feel 
bound  humbly  to  submit  to  his  will,  and  acquiescing 
in  the  wisdom  of  the  arrangement,  should  do  what- 
ever human  sagacity  and  prudence  might  suggest, 
to  discharge  the  delicate  and  momentous  trust  cora- 

♦  Hooker  Eccl.  Pol.  B.  3  $  2.  §  11.  So  also  Tomline,  Pa- 
ley  and  other  Episcopal  divines.  Burton's  Hist.  Church, 
p.  60.    Neaadcr,  iu  Coleman's  Prim.  Ch.  Introduc.  p.  18. 


cmjRCH  POLiTr.  19 

mitted  to  us.  But  happily  for  us  and  for  tbe  inter- 
ests of  his  kingdom,  he  has  not  imposed  upon  us 
this  fearful  responsibility.  The  Scriptures  are  a  suffi- 
cient rule  of  faith  and  practice.  The  principles  of 
ecclesiastical  polity  are  prescribed  in  them  with  all 
necessary  comprehensiveness  and  clearness.  The 
founder  of  the  Church  has  provided  better  for  its 
interests,  than  to  commit  its  affairs  to  the  control  of 
fallible  men.  "  Whatever  ways  of  constituting  the 
chiirch  may  to  us  seem  fit,  proper,  and  reasonable, 
the  question  is,  not  what  constitution  of  Christ's 
church  seems  convenient  to  human  wisdom,  but  what 
constitution  is  actually  established  by  Christ's  infi- 
nite wisdom."  * 

It  would  have  been  happy  for  the  world  if  men 
had  been  satisfied  with  the  simple  form  of  eccle- 
siastical polity  contained  in  the  New  Testament. 
Rejecting  this,  or  proceeding  upon  the  assumption 
that  the  New  Testament  contains  none,  they  have 
attempted  to  trace  analogies  between  Christ's  church 
and  the  defunct  forms  of  Judaism,  or  engrafted 
upon  it  rites  and  ceremonies  borrowed  from  Heathen- 

*  Edwards's  Works,  4,  p.  377. 

This  point  is  very  ably  discussed  by  Dr.  Smyth,  in  his 
learned  work  on  Presbyter}',  ch.  II.,  and  on  Prelacy,  Lee. 
II.,  Note  C.  Lee.  III.,  Vid.  Dr.  Wood's  Lectures  on 
Church  Government,  pp.  9-12.  Haldane's  View  of  Social 
Worship,  &c.  ch.  2.  Milton's  Reason  of  Chiirch  Govern- 
ment, ch.  I.,  II. 


20  CHURCH   POLITY. 

ism.  From  the  close  of  the  second  century  down 
to  the  present  time,  a  considerable  party  have  de- 
rived their  notions  of  ecclesiastical  polity  from  the 
Jewbh  temple  and  priesthood.*  And  even  a  late 
writer  has  supposed  that  its  rudiments  may  be  dis- 
covered in  the  Jewish  sacerdotal  institute,  t  A  more 
gross  misconception  of  the  genius  of  Christianity 
than  is  implied  in  this  Judaizing  system,  can  scarcely 
be  imagined.  No  two  persons  can  be  more  unlike 
than  a  Jewish  priest  and  a  Christian  minister ;  and 
to  argue  from  the  prerogatives  and  duties  of  the  one 
to  those  of  the  other  is  a  gi*oss  paralogism. 

To  model  the  church  of  Christ  after  the  Jewish 
temple  is  to  abjure  our  liberty  in  the  Gospel,  and  to 
relapse  into  the  weak  and  beggarly  elements  of 
Levitical  bondage.  "  To  argue  from  a  Levitical 
priesthood  to  a  Christian  ministry,  and  to  prove  the 
validity  of  the  latter  institution  by  an  appeal  to  the 
former,  and  specially  to  compare  the  ofl&cial  duties 
of  the  two  respective  classes,  with  an  assumption 
that  they  are  parallel,  is  out  of  all  question."  J 

♦Punchard's  Hist,  of  Congregationalism,  p.  22.  Camp- 
bell's Lee.  on  Eccl.  Hist.  Lee.  X.  part  I.  Gieseler's  Church 
Hist,  I.  §  65.  Moshcim,  I.  p.  144.  Neander,  p.  IIL  Kir- 
chenverfassung  von  K.  D.  Kallmann,  S.  3.5. 

t  Spiritual  Despotism,  by  Isaac  Taylor,  Sec.  3. 

+  Stuart  on  the  Old  Testament,  pp.  88,  388-392.  Ed- 
wards's Works,  IV.  pp.  390,  594.  Wood's  Lectures  on 
Church  OoTemment,  p.  13.  Lord  Bacon  advised  the  re- 
moval of  the  offensive  term  priest  from  the  English  Liturgy. 


CHURCH    POLITY.  21 

The  unscriptural  notion  of  a  human  priesthood  in 
the  church  of  Christ,  is  fraught  with  pestilent  error, 
and  has  led  to  the  most  enormous  abuses.  It  has 
substituted  a  new  class  of  mediators  between  God 
and  man,  to  the  exclusion  and  dishonor  of  the  one 
Mediator,  the  man  Christ  Jesus  ;  for,  as  Dr.  Arnold 
has  observed,  "  the  essential  point  in  the  notion  of 
a  priest  is  this  :  that  he  is  a  person  made  necessary 
to  our  intercourse  with  God,  without  being  necessary 
or  beneficial  to  us  morally.  His  interference  makes 
the  worshipper  neither  a  wiser  man,  nor  holier  than 
he  would  have  been  without  it ;  and  yet  it  is  held 
to  be  indispensable.  This  unreasonable,  unmoral, 
unspiritual  necessity,  is  the  essence  of  the  idea 
of  priesthood."  Viewed  in  its  relations  to  the  car- 
dinal truths  of  Christianity,  no  error  can  be  more 
utterly  subversive  of  the  Gospel.  We  are  not, 
therefore,  surprised  at  the  earnestness  with  which  he 
combats  it,  and  the  indignation  with  which  he  de- 
nounces it,  as  "  the  worst  and  earliest  form  of  Anti- 
Christ."*  It  was  this  human  priesthood  "be- 
decked in  deformed  and  fantastic  dresses,  in  palls 
and  mitres,  gold  and  gewgaws,  fetched  from  Aaron's 

Pacification  of  the  Church,  Works  I.  p.  356.  This  argu- 
ment is,  in  the  hands  of  Prelacy,  self-destructive ;  for  the 
Jewish  hierarchy  was  not  prelatical.  Smyth's  Presby- 
tery, ch.  XIII.     Taylor's  Spiritual  Despotism,  Sec.  3. 

♦Arnold  on  the  Church.  Miscellaneous  "Works,  pp. 
16,  18. 


22  CnUKCH   POUTY. 

old  wardrobe,  or  the  flamen's  vestry,"*  that  for 
ages  presented  Christianity  to  the  world,  under  the 
motley  image  of  resuscitated  Judaism  amalgamat- 
ing with  Paganism.  Rearing  its  colossal  throne 
upon  the  earth,  and  stretching  its  powerful  sceptre 
over  the  flames  of  purgatory  and  the  prisons  of  hell, 
it  robbed  life  of  its  last  joy,  and  death  of  its  only 
hope. 

The  evils  of  attempting  to  graft  Christianity  upon 
Judaism,  and  effect  an  unnatural  amalgamation  be- 
tween carnal  ordinances  and  a  spiritual  religion, 
appear,  although  in  a  mitigated  form,  in  some  of 
the  practices  which  have  crept  into  use  since  the 
age  of  the  apostles.  Infant  baptism  is,  in  its  essen* 
tial  idea,  alien  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  Wheth- 
er it  be  considered  the  condition,  or  the  privilege  of 
church  membership  (according  to  the  discrepant 
views  of  its  supporters),  it  involves  the  glaring  ab- 
surdity of  making  carnal  descent  the  condition  of 
admittance  to  spiritual  blessings.  How  futile  the 
eflfort  to  effect  a  coalescence  between  a  right  con- 
ferred by  hereditary  transmission  and  the  privileges 
of  a  kingdom,  in  which  citizenship  is  determined  by 
entirely  different  qualifications,  the  subjects  of  which 
are  "  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the 
flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God."     "  How 

♦  Milton  of  KeformatioQ  in  England.   Prose  Works,  p.  1. 


CHUBCH   POUTT.  23 

unwary  are  many  excellent  men,"  says  Prof.  Stu- 
art,* "in  contending  for  infant  baptism,  on  the 
ground  of  the  Jewish  analogy  of  circumcision  ?  Are 
females  not  proper  subjects  of  baptism  ?  And 
again,  are  a  man's  slaves  to  be  all  baptized  because 
he  is  ?  Are  they  church-members  of  course,  when 
they  are  so  baptized  ?  Is  there  no  difference  be- 
tween engrafting  into  a  politico-ecclesiastical  com- 
m\mity,  and  into  one  of  which  it  is  said  that  "  it  is 
not  of  this  world?" 

Where  this  practice  is  combined  with  the  priestly 
do<niia  of  baptismal  regeneration,  it  conduces  equally 
to  sacerdotal  power  and  spuitual  delusion.  Among 
the  great  majority  of  Protestants,  its  tendency  is,  to 
a  great  extent,  neutralized  by  the  assertion  of  the 
necessity  of  the  new  birth.  This  salutary  truth  ex- 
tracts the  poison  from  the  opposite  error.  Infant 
baptism  possesses  no  natural  afiBnity  for  the  evan- 
gelical scheme.  Appended  to  it,  it  is  a  mere  hete- 
rogeneous addition,  which  refuses  and  defies  vital  in- 
corporation ;  and  its  only  effect  is  to  mar  the  heav- 
enly beauty  of  Christianity  by  an  unnatural  and 
earthly  incumbrance.  Carnal  rites  combined  with 
a  spiritual  religion  are  as  unseemly  as  would  be 
wings  of  wax  upon  the  angel  Gabriel. 

Another  class  of  writers  find  the  original  pat- 
tern of  the  Christian  church  in  the  polity  of  the 

•  Old  Testament,  p.  895. 


\        /■ 


24  CHURCH  POLITY. 

synagogue,*  and  affirm  that  the  Apostles  did  not 
introduce  new  organizations,  but  converted  these 
Jewish  assemblies  into  Christian  churches.  A  fatal 
objection  to  this  theory  is,  that  we  have  not  the 
slightest  intimation  of  it  in  the  New  Testament.  If 
it  had  been  the  design  of  the  Apostles  to  present 
the  synagogue  as  the  model  of  Christian  churches, 
it  is  incredible  that  they  would  have  omitted  to  say 
so.  It  may  further  be  urged  that  the  synagogue 
was  not  a  divine  institution,!  and  could  not  therefore 
be  adopted  as  the  exemplar  of  Christian  churches, 
without  express  divine  authority.  This  authority 
Christ  has  not  given ;  the  apostles  nowhere  assert  it. 
We  objected  to  the  notion  which  transfers  the  Le- 
vitical  priesthood  to  the  Christian  church,  that  it  is 
a  virtual  repeal  of  the  Gospel ;  we  object  to  this 
scheme,  that  it  exalts  a  human  institution  into  an 

*  Vid.  Vitring  a  de  Synag.  et  Selden  de  Synag.  Nean- 
der's  Planting  of  the  Chr.  Ch.  chap.  2.  Gieseler  1.  §  25. 
Whately's  Kingdom  of  Christ,  pp.  78-80.  Coleman's  Prim. 
Ch.  chap.  2.    Smyth's  Presb.  B.  1.  ch.  13. 

f  The  divine  institution  of  the  synagogue  is  pleaded  by 
Dr.  Smyth  and  others,  from  the  expression  in  Psalm  74  :  8. 
"  God's  synagogues."  But  at  the  time  this  Psalm  was 
composed,  synagogues  were  not  in  existence  .  The  Hebrew 
is  more  properly  rendered,  "  the  places  of  assembly,"  al- 
luding to  Ramah,  Bethel,  &c.,  the  seats  of  the  prophets 
(Gesen.  Heb.  Lex.  p.  554) ;  or  the  plural  may  be  used,  as 
Stuart  thinks  (0.  T.  p.  72),  for  the  singular,  and  the  allu- 
sion be  to  the  temple. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  25 

institution  of  Christ.  Neither  of  them  derives  any 
warrant  from  the  word  of  God. 

We  look  in  vain  for  the  model  of  a  church  among 
the  Jews.  It  was  foreign  to  their  modes  of  concep- 
tion ;  nor  is  there  a  word  in  their  language  by  which 
the  idea  can  be  expressed.  They  had  words,  or 
phrases,  designating  an  assembly  for  religious  pur- 
poses, and  the  place  or  house  where  such  an  assem- 
bly was  convened,  but  none  which  embodied  the 
conception  of  a  church  as  distinguished  from  a  con- 
gregation, of  an  organized  body  composed  of  pro- 
fessedly pious  persons,  professing  spiritual  qualifica- 
tions, and  combined  for  the  promotion  of  purely 
spiritual  purposes.  *  The  idea  of  a  church  is 
peculiar  to  Christianity.  "  This  system  presents 
the  only  true  form  of  a  church.  The  Jews  had  no 
distinct  organization  which  could,  with  propriety,  be 
denominated  a  church.  Much  less  is  any  associa- 
tion under  other  forms  of  religion,  entitled  to  this 
appellation."  f 

It  is  well  known  to  all  who  have  examined  the 
subject  of  ecclesiaiitical  polity,  that  the  testimony  of 
the  Fathers  has  been  appealed  to  as  competent 
authority.     But  if  the  Bible  be  our  directory,  in 

♦Josephs,  a  learned  Jew,  in  his  English  and  Hebrew 
Lexicon,  London,  1834,  under  the  word  church,  gives  phrases 
which  indicate  only  the  house  used  for  religious  purposes. 

t  Coleman's  Christian  Antiquities,  ch.  1,  {  3. 

3 

X    / 


26  CHORCH   POLITY. 

faith  and  practice,  why  need  we  apply  to  other 
sources  for  infonnation  ?  Should  it  be  found,  upon 
examination,  that  the  testimony  of  the  Fathers  con- 
flicts with  the  practice  of  the  Apostles,  it  must  be 
rejected.  The  form  of  church  government,  taught 
in  the  Scriptures,  must  be  ascertained,  before  we 
can  determine  how  far  this  testimony  is  entitled  to 
credit.  Upon  Protestant  and  Scriptural  principles, 
no  other  course  is  admissible. 

The  advocates  of  tradition  proceed  upon  the  as^ 
sumption  that  the  Scriptures  do  not  contain  a  reve- 
lation of  all  that  is  necessary  for  ''doctrine,  for 
reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteous- 
ness ;  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thor- 
oughly furnished  unto  all  good  works ; "  and  in 
support  of  it  they  refer  to  doctrines  and  practices 
which  have  been  very  generally  received,  but  are 
not  taught  or  enjoined  in  the  word  of  God.  Thus, 
Klee,  a  Roman  Catholic,  says  that  "  many  things  in 
the  ethical  and  liturgical  practice  of  the  church  are 
retained  which  rest  only  on  traditional  grounds,  as 
the  lawfulness  and  necessity  of  infant  baptism,  the 
validity  of  heretical  baptism,  &c."  *  When  we 
consider  how  far  the  Puseyites  have  advanced  in 
their  approach  to  Rome,  we  are  not  surprised  to  find 

♦Lehrbuch  der  Dogmengeschichte,  I.  S.  114.  Compare 
Hooker's  Eccl.  Pol.  B.  I.  ch.  14.  Townsend's  N.  T.  P.  10. 
Note  9. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  27 

one  of  them  denouncing,  as  "  a  shallow  and  irre- 
ligious assumption,"  the  cardinal  principle  of  Pro- 
testantism, "  that  whatever  God  designs  his  creatures 
to  believe  or  perform,  he  has  plainly  taught  and  de- 
clared." *  A  more  learned  and  candid  advocate  of 
Episcopacy  has  said  :  "  The  claim  of  Episcopacy  to 
be  of  divine  institution,  and  therefore  obligatory  on 
the  chui'ch,  rests  fundamentally  on  the  one  ques- 
tion —  Has  it  the  authority  of  Scripture  ?  If  it  has 
not,  it  is  not  necessarily  binding,  "f 

The  majestic  simplicity  of  the  New  Testament,  its 
revelation  of  pure  and  lofty  truths,  and  its  entire 
freedom  from  folly  and  fanaticism,  stamp  it  with  the 
impress  of  divinity,  and  attract  the  admiration  of 
minds  not  yet  prepared  to  acknowledge  its  heavenly 
origin.     But,  in  passing  from  its  pages  to  those  of 

*  Marshall's  Notes  on  the  Episc.  Pol.  New  York,  1844, 
p.  16.  Of  the  accuracy  with  which  this  writer  states  facts, 
the  reader  may  judge  by  the  following  statements :  "  The 
latest  improvement  upon  the  Baptist  heresy  is  Mormon- 
ism."  p.  345.  "  The  great  body  of  Methodists,  following 
Dr.  A.  Clarke,  have  departed  from  the  true  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity."  p.  346.  These  statements  are  made  upon  the 
highest  "  American  authority."  We  may  smile  at  the  easy 
credulity  of  this  "  curate  of  Swallowcliflfe ; "  but  what  shall 
we  say  of  the  E.t.  Rev.  Editor,  Jonathan  M.  "Wainwright, 
D.D.,  who  endorses  these  and  similar  "  old  wives'  fables  ?  " 

fDr.  Onderdonk's  Episcopacy,  tested  by  Scripture,  p  I. 
Barnes'  Reply,  p.  99,  See  also  Carson's  refutation  of 
Whately's  illogical  assumption  with  respect  to  the  burden 
of  proof,  in  his  work  on  Baptism,  ch.  1. 


28  CHURCH   POLITY. 

the  early  Christian  fathers,  we  are  conscious  of  an 
immense  descent.  The  transition  from  Paul  and 
John  to  Barnabas  and  Hermas,  is  felt  as  a  departure 
from  the  teachings  of  inspired  Apostles  to  the  puerile 
conceits  of  a  Judaizer  and  the  drivelling  of  a  dotard. 
It  would  be  vain,  if  it  were  necessary,  to  attempt  to 
supply  the  deficiences  of  the  former  by  the  latter. 
The  hand  of  Providence  has  fixed  a  "  great  gulf" 
between  the  inspired  and  the  uninspired  Christian 
writings,  and  thus  placed  its  condemnation  upon 
those  who  are  so  "  exceedingly  zealous  of  the  tradi- 
tions" of  the  Fathers. 

If  the  Scriptures  were  deficient  or  obscure,  and 
the  inquirer  after  truth  were,  therefore,  driven  to 
the  Fathers,  even  that  refuge  would  fail  him.  Their 
testimony  is  suspicious,  partial,  and  contradictory ; 
their  works  are  corrupted  and  interpolated;  and 
they  themselves  refer  him  back  to  the  Scriptures  as 
the  only  authoritative  guide.* 

To  sustain  the  authority  of  the  Fathers,  and  give 
plausibility  to  the  scheme  which  rests  the  polity  of 

*  Goode's  Divine  Rule,  chaps.  5-7.  Daille  on  the  right 
use  of  the  Fathers.  Smyth's  Pres.  and  Prel.  pp.  314-328. 
Apostol.  Succ.  p.  79.  Knapp's  Theology,  §  7.  Dwight,  4, 
pp.  239-242.  Neander's  Church  History,  p.  407.  Baum- 
garten  Crusius,  Compendium  der  Dogmengeschichte,  Leip- 
zig, 1840,  §  20.  Milton's  Animadv.  on  Rem.  Def.  See.  4. 
Jortin  says  of  Antiquity  (or  the  Fathers),  "  she  is  like  Bri- 
arius,  and  has  a  hundred  hands,  and  these  hands  often  clash 
and  beat  one  another."    Eccl.  Hist.  2.  p.  67. 


CHURCH   POUTY.  29 

the  churelies  upon  their  testimony,  it  is  sometimes 
affirmed  that  we  are  indebted  to  them  for  our  knowl- 
edge and  reception  of  the  books  which  compose  the 
sacred  canon ;  and  the  inference  thence  derived,  that 
if  their  testimony  is  valid  in  the  one  case,  it  is  equally 
so  in  the  other.  But  this  is  to  confound  things 
which  are  manifestly  diiferent.  In  settling  the  pre- 
liminary question,  as  to  what  books  are  canonical, 
we  may  refer  to  the  testimony  of  the  Fathers  ;  but 
in  order  to  ascertain  what  those  books  contain,  we 
must  consult  the  books  themselves.  The  testimony 
of  these  early  witnesses  is  to  be  cahnly  weighed, 
carefully  scrutinized,  and  subjected  to  the  rules 
which  regulate  our  estimate  of  historical  evidence. 
They  are  simply  the  media  of  proof,  the  means  by 
which  we  arrive  at  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  by 
which  the  question  is  to  be  decided.  "  The  church 
of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  present  day,  does  not  believe 
in  the  divine  authority  of  those  books  which  it  ad- 
mits to  be  canonical,  because  the  ancient  church  re- 
garded them  in  the  same  light ;  but  because  there  is 
satisfactory  evidence  that  they  were  composed  by 
men  who  wrote  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost."* 

♦Arguments  of  Romanists  Discussed  and  Refuted  by 
Rev.  Dr.  ThorQwell,  p.  213.  The  testimony  of  the  Fathers 
is  the  medium  per  quod,  not  the  medium  propter  quod. 
Twesten's  Vorlesungen,  I.  S.  433.  Pictet  Theol.  fib.  1. 
cap.  IX.  4.  Chillingworth,  ch.  2.  Answer,  {  25. 
S* 


30  CnURCH   POLITY. 

The  advocates  of  prelacy  have  not  failed  to 
charge  upon  other  pedobaptists  the  inconsistency 
of  admitting  infant  baptism  upon  the  testimony  of 
the  Fathers,  and  rejecting  the  claims  of  episcopacy 
and  the  apostolical  succession,  although  sustained 
upon  the  same  foundation.  From  this  dilemma 
Dr.  Woods  would  extricate  himself,  by  denying 
that  it  presents  a  fair  statement  of  the  case.  "  The 
chief  historical  argument  in  favor  of  infant  Baptism 
does  not,"  in  his  view,  "  arise  from  the  fact,  that 
the  practice  did  at  length  generally  prevail  in  the 
early  ages ;  but  from  the  testimony  of  the  Fathers, 
that  it  was  received  from  the  apostles."*  But  the 
historical  argument  here  is  extremely  defective. 
Origen  is  the  first  of  the  Fathers  who  uses  such 
language,!  and  he  Hved  A.  D.  185  —  254.  His 
assertion,  at  so  distant  a  remove  from  the  time  of 
the  apostles,  possesses  little  weight ;  especially  as  he 
ascribes  to  them,  in  the  same  connection,  the  doc- 
trine that  baptism  cleanses  from  original  sin. 

I  find  no  authority  for  this  custom,  either  in  the 
Scriptures,  or  the  earliest  Christian  documents.  If 
the  baptism  of  infants  be  an  ordinance  of  Christ,  it 
must  be  plainly  taught,  by  precept  or  example,  in 

*  Lectures  on  Church  Government,  p.  61, 

■f-  Ecclesia  ab  apostolis  traditionem  accepit  etiam  parvulis 
baptismum  dare.  Sciebant  illi  .  .  .  quod  essent  in  omnibus 
genuinaj  sordes  peccati,  quae  per  aquam  et  spiritum  ablu' 
deberent.     Orig.  In  ep.  ad  Rom.  0pp.  T.  IV.  p.  665, 


CnURCH  POLITY.  31 

the  Xew  Testament.  If  it  be  not  so  taught,  to  at- 
tempt to  sustain  it  by  an  appeal  to  historical  evi- 
dence, is  to  abandon  the  fundamental  principle  of 
Protestantism. 

The  period  seems  to  be  rapidly  approaching  when 
the  Christian  world  must  choose  between  the  Scrip- 
tures and  the  traditions  of  men.  If  ever  the  man 
of  sin  is  successfully  assailed  in  his  strong  hold,  it 
must  be  by  the  sword  of  the  Spirit.  The  Bible  is 
our  only  reliable  armory.  Equipped  and  supplied 
from  this  som-ce,  the  man  of  God  need  not  fear  an 
encounter  vrith  the  hosts  of  darkness.  But  if,  re- 
jecting the  panoply  which  divine  munificence  has 
supplied,  he  resorts  to  earthly  means  of  defence,  he 
will  fall  in  the  struggle,  oppressed  with  the  mortify- 
ing consciousness  that  his  unhallowed  weapons  have 
only  precipitated  his  defeat.  Like  Milton's  angels, 
he  will  be  bruised  and  crushed  beneath  the  weight 
of  his  own  armor  : 

"  Their  armor  helped  their  harm,  crushed  in  and  bruised 
Into  their  substance  pent,  which  wrought  them  pain 
Implacable,  and  many  a  dolorous  groan." 

Paradise  Lost,  VI.,  658. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THK  CHURCH   OF   CHRIST. 

The  word  Churcli  (in  the  original  Greek  of  the 
New  Testament,  ekklesia),  means  a  congregation, 
or  assembly ;  and  the  character  of  the  assembly,  to 
which  it  is  applied,  is  to  be  ascertained  by  the  use 
of  the  term  in  each  particular  instance.  In  its 
Bacred  use,  it  is  confined  to  two  meanings,  referring 
either  to  a  particular  local  society  of  Christians,  or 
to  the  whole  body  of  God's  redeemed  people.*  Of 
the  latter  meaning  of  the  word,  the  following  are 
instances : 

Christ  loved  the  Church,  and  gave  himself  for  it. 
Eph.  5  :  25.  Gave  him  to  be  the  head  over  all 
things  to  the  Church,  which  is  his  body.  Eph. 
1  :  22,  23.     The  general  assembly  and  Church  of 

*  Campbell's  Lectures  on  Eccl.  History,  Lee.  6,  p.  100, 
105,  106.  King's  Prim.  Church,  chap.  1.  [It  is  sometimes 
asserted  that  Lord  King  subsequently  renounced  the  views 
maintained  in  this  book,  Vid.  Rose's  note  to  Neander's 
Church  History,  Pref.  p.  4.  But  the  evidence  is  not  satis- 
factory. Vid.  Punchard  on  Congregationalism,  p.  147.] 
Haldane's  View  of  Social  "Worship,  &c.,  ch.  5,  §  1.  Dagg's 
Essay  on  Communion,  chap.  3,  §  1.  Dr.  Johnson's  Gosp. 
Developed,  ch.  2.    Barrow,  Wks.  (Am.  Ed.)  III.  312. 


CHURCH    POLITY.  33 

the  first  born,  which  are  written  in  Heaven.  Heb. 
12  :  23. 

It  is  this  community  of  believers,  the  household 
of  God,  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth,  that 
constitutes  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  in  its  internal  development.  It  is  one, 
and  indivisible.  Its  members  are  known,  certainly, 
only  to  Omniscience.  Ordained  unto  eternal  life 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  and  in  due  time 
called,  justified,  sanctified,  and  glorified,  they  con- 
stitute the  only  real  spiritual  body  of  Christ,  the 
fulness  of  Him  that  filleth  all  in  all.  Those  who  are 
members  of  this  Church,  and  those  alone,  are  inter- 
ested in  the  benefits  of  the  atonement,  share  the 
gifts  of  the  Spirit,  and  enjoy  the  bliss  which  apper- 
tains to  the  communion  of  saints.  Beyond  its  limits 
there  is  no  salvation.* 

The  conception  of  the  spiritual  unity  of  the 
Church,  which  can  be  realized  only  by  a  living 
communion  of  all  its  members  with  the  bead,  is 
clearly  discerned  in  the  instructions  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles,  and  is  a  glorious  and  precious  truth. 
But  it  was  soon  misapprehended  and  perverted. 
The  attempt  was  made  to  realize  this  unity  in  an 

*  The  best  definition  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  is  that 
given  by  Augustine,  and  incorporated  by  Calvin  in  his  Cat. 
Eccl.  Genev.  Quid  est  ecclesia  ?  Corpus  ac  Societas 
fidelium  quos  deus  ad  vitara  aeternam  praedestinavit.  See 
also  Inst.  IV.  I.  n.  2.  7-    Pictet  Theol.  Art.  XXVII.  7. 


34  CIIURCa    POMTY. 

outward  church,  possessed  of  an  external  visible 
organization,  and  embracing,  among  its  members, 
all  the  professors  of  Christianity  in  the  world.  The 
unity  of  the  Spirit,  which  consists  in  faith  and  love, 
was  merged  in  a  unity  of  outward  form.*  The 
radical  error  of  this  theory  consists  in  the  assumption 
of  an  external  visible  union  of  Christians  as  the 
starting  point  from  which  to  arrive  at  a  real  spiritual 
unity ;  whereas  the  reverse  is  the  proper  order  of 
procedure.  The  primary  and  essential  union  of 
Christians  consists  in  their  connexion  with  a  common 
head,  and  the  possession  of  a  common  spirit ;  and 
particular  societies  of  Christians  can  approximate  to 
this  unity,  only  in  proportion  as  they  realize  in 

*  Neander's  Church  Hist.  p.  120.  MOnscher  Dogmensge. 
[Ed.  Von  Coin.]  §  34.  Meyer,  §  25.  The  name,  holy  Cath- 
olic Church,  first  occurs  in  the  epistle  of  the  Church  of 
Smyrna,  concerning  the  martyidom  of  Polycarp,  written  A. 
D.  169.  Euseb.  Hist.  Eccl.  IV.  15.  The  earliest  patron 
of  the  notion  was  Irenaeus,  (f  201)  :  it  was  fully  developed 
by  Cyprian,  (f  258,)  in  his  book  De  unitate  ecclesiae.  Having 
referred  to  the  history  of  Eusebius,  I  take  this  opportu- 
nity to  caution  the  reader  against  trusting  too  implicitly  to 
Cruse's  translation  of  the  work,  published  by  Rev.  R.  Da- 
vis, Phila.  It  was  made  under  Episcopalian  influence,  and 
is  deeply  tinged  with  it.  Some  of  its  errors  have  been  no- 
ticed in  Dr.  Smyth's  Confirmation  Examined.  Note  A.  p. 
199.  The  expression  Catholic  Church,  is  also  found  in  the 
larger  collection  of  the  epistles  of  Ignatius.  Ep.  ad  Smyrn. 
c.  8  \\  107).  But  the  passage  is  not  considered  genuine. 
MUnscher,  j  34. 


CHUBCU    POLITY.  35 

til  em  selves  the  harmony  and  sympathy  which  dis- 
thiguish  the  body  of  Christ.* 

The  minds  of  men  had  no  sooner  become  posses- 
sed of  this  figment  of  a  visible  Catholic  Church, 
than  they  saw  the  necessity  of  seeking  for  some 
visible  head.  This  was  indispensable  to  its  com- 
pleteness. Here  wo  have  the  germ  of  the  papa 
system,  which  has,  at  least,  the  merit  of  consistency ; 
for  the  necessity  of  a  visible  head  is  a  logical  deduc- 
tion from  the  doctrine  of  a  visible  Catholic  Church. 
"  Without  a  visible  head,"  observes  a  distinguished 
Roman  Catholic,  "  the  whole  view  which  the  Catholic 
Church  takes  of  herself,  as  a  visible  society  repre- 
senting the  place  of  Christ,  would  have  been  lost, 
or  rather  would  never  have  occurred  to  her.  In  a 
visible  church,  a  visible  head  is  necessarily  in- 
cluded, "t 

The  doctrine  of  a  visible  Catholic  Church,  al- 
though it  seems  to  have  been  rejected  by  Luther, 
has  been  maintained  by  a  large  number  of  Protest- 
ants,! and  even  some  of  the  advocates  of  Congre- 

*  Marheineke  Grundlehren  der  Christl.  Dogmatik.  S.  445. 
Nitzch.  System  der  Christl.  Lehre,  §  188. 

t  Mohler's  Symbolism,  p.  377.  Barrow,  Unit.  ch.  VIIT.  4. 

+  Hill's  Divinity,  p.  695.  Dick's  Theology,  2,  p.  456. 
Smyth's  Ecclesiastical  Catechism,  p.  11,  with  a  copious 
citation  of  authorities.  "  The  Church,"  says  Ogilby,  "  is 
Christ's  mystical  body.  This  body  of  Christ  is  a  visible 
body,  made  oi  raenxy  visible  parts,"  Lectures  on  the  Church, 
p.  13,  New  York,  1841 


36  CHUECH  POLITY. 

gationalism  have,  with  singular  inconsistency,  em- 
braced the  same  view.*  The  subject  demands, 
therefore,  a  thorough  discussion.  I  am  happy  to 
say  that  Dr.  Dagg,  who  has  devoted  much  reflec- 
tion to  this  topic,  has,  at  my  solicitation,  furnished 
me  with  his  views ;  and  they  are  here  inserted  as  a 
valuable  and  instructive  addition  to  this  work. 

The  question  respecting  the  existence  of  a  Visible 
Church  Catholic,  may  be  regarded,  1 ,  as  real,  —  2, 
as  verbal. 

I.  As  real.  The  real  question  may  be  stated 
thus  :  Do  all  who  profess  the  true  religion  constitute 
one  organized  society '? 

The  following  doctrine  is  maintained  by  Dr. 
Mason :  There  exists  in  the  world  a  great  society, 
composed  of  all  who  profess  the  true  religion.  This 
society  is  so  organized  that  the  parts  are  united  in 
mutual  dependence,  and  furnished  with  a  principle 
of  living  efficiency  in  one  common  system,  so  as  to 
bring  the  strength  of  the  whole  to  operate  on  every 
part,  or  through  all  the  parts  collectively,  as  oc- 
casion may  require.  This  society  possesses  the 
power  of  self-preservation,  which  includes,  1.  A 
power  of  commanding  the  agency  of  any  particular 
member ;  2.  A  power  of  combining  the  agency  of 
all  her  members ;  3.  A  power  of  providing  for  her 
nourishment  and  health;    4.  A  power    of   expel- 

*  "Walker's  Church  Discipline,  p.  10,  where  he  says  the 
term  Church,  in  Matt.  16  :  18,  "  appears  to  include,  gene- 
rally, such  professed  believers  as  hold  the  Christian  faith 
y.4  »^»,tica  H-ncorrupted,  throughout  the  world." 


CUURCU    POLITY.  37 

ling  impurities  and  corruptions  This  society,  with 
a  regular  succession  of  members,  has  existed  visiblj 
and  publicly,  from  the  days  of  Abraham  to  the 
present  time.* 

The  following  weighty  objections  lie  against  this 
doctrine : 

1.  It  does  not  accord  with  the  facts  of  history. 
All  the  professors  of  Christianity  are  not  now  so 
united,  and  it  is  certain  that  they  have  not  been  for 
ages  past. 

2.  It  favors  the  pretensions  of  the  Roman  Church. 
If  any  such  society  existed  in  the  middle  ages,  its 
seat  of  power  must  have  been  at  Home. 

3.  The  powers  attributed  to  this  society  are  in- 
consistent with  the  individual  and  personal  respon- 
sibilities of  its  members.  A  power  to  command 
implies  an  obligation  to  obey.  Now  either  the 
power  must  be  exere'ised  with  infallible  rectitude, 
or  the  members  are  bound  to  oppose  it,  and  to  obey 
God  rather  than  men. 

4.  The  Church  organizations  of  primitive  Chris- 
tians did  not  extend  beyond  single  congregations, 
which  existed  and  acted  independently  of  each  other. 
Membership  was  voluntary,  and  no  power  was 
claimed  to  interfere  in  any  wise  with  the  individual 
and  personal  responsibility  of  any  member.  "  To 
his  own  master  he  standeth  or  falleth." 

5.  The  combination  of  individuals  or  of  churches, 
for  the  purpose  of  exercising  any  controlling  power 
whatever  over  the  consciences  of  men,  is  the  germ 
and  spirit  of  Anti-Christ. 

The  doctrine  to  which  these  objections  are  opposed, 

*  Mason's  Essays,  pp.  5,  195,  and  elsewhere. 

45GG78 


38  CUUBCH    POLITY. 

is  a  corruption  of  the  Scripture  doctrine,  respecting 
what  theological  writers  have  called  the  Invisible 
Church.  The  saints  in  heaven,  with  all  regenerate 
persons  on  earth,  form  a  society  which  is  called,  in 
the  language  of  inspiration,  the  Body  of  Christ,  the 
Church  of  Christ,  the  People  of  Christ,  the  Flock 
of  Christ,  &c.  Eph.  5  :  23-27  ;  Matt.  1 ;  21 ;  1 
Peter  2 ;  9 ;  Luke  12 :  32  ;  John  10  :  16 ;  Heb. 
12  :  23.  The  oneness  of  this  body  does  not  depend 
on  any  external  organization,  but  arises  from  a 
spiritual  union  of  all  its  members  to  Christ.  It  is 
compacted,  not  by  any  external  force,  nor  by  pow- 
ers conferred  on  the  members  collectively,  for  the 
purpose  of  consolidation  and  control,  but  by  that 
which  every  joint  supplieth.  Love  is  the  cement 
of  the  parts,  and  the  principle  of  living  efficiency, 
growth  and  strength  whi<5h  pervades  the  whole.  It 
maketh  increase  of  itself  in  love.  Membership  in 
this  society  is,  in  the  highest  sense,  voluntary,  and 
all  controlling  power  belongs,  not  to  the  body,  but 
to  the  living  head,  Jesus  Christ. 

A  few  texts  of  Scripture,  in  which  the  term 
Church  is  used,  have,  by  a  mistaken  interpretation 
of  them,  been  supposed  to  favor  the  doctrine  of  a 
Visible  Church  Catholic.  Dr.  Mason  refers  to  six 
as  proof  texts  of  this  doctrine.  It  is  a  very  re- 
markable circumstance  that  three  of  these  six  texts 
refer  to  a  period  in  the  history  of  Christianity,  when 
no  church  of  external  organization  existed,  but  that 
which  was  at  Jerusalem.  This  was  not  a  Catholic 
Church  as  distinguished  from  a  particular  Church  ; 
and  therefore  these  texts  fail  to  prove  anything  in 
the  question,  except  the  difficulty  of  finding  support 
for  the  doctrine  in  the  word  of  God.     The  three  pas- 


CHURCH    POLITY.  39 

sages  are  these :  "  The  Lord  added  to  the  Church 
daily  such  as  should  be  saved  "  Acts  2  :  47.  "  Saul 
made  havoc  of  the  church  "  —  Acts  8:3.  "I  per- 
secuted the  Church  of  God"  —  1  Cor.  15  :  9. 

It  is  due,  however,  to  the  scheme  of  Dr.  M.,  to 
say  that  it  finds  a  Visible  Church  Catholic  in  exist- 
ence at  the  period  to  which  these  texts  refer  :  and 
it  is  due  to  the  cause  of  truth  to  show  that,  in  this 
very  particular,  the  scheme  involves  incredible 
absurdity.  He  says,  (pages  7  and  8,)  "  The  Jews 
were  not  cut  off  till  ailer  the  commencement  and 
establishment  of  the  new  dispensation  ;  that  is,  till 
after  the  Gentiles  were  taken  in."  According  to 
this  view  of  the  subject,  the  excision  of  the  Jews 
did  not  take  place  until  after  the  conversion  of 
Cornelius.  Of  consequence,  the  Jewish  nation 
continued  to  be  the  Visible  Church  Catholic  during 
the  period  to  which  the  texts  above  quoted  refer ; 
and  if  they  signify  what  they  are  cited  to  prove, 
their  correct  interpretation  is  as  follows :  "  The  Lord 
added  to  the  Church  ;  "  i.  e.  to  the  Jewish  nation. 
"  Saul  made  havoc  of  the  Church  ;  "  i.  e.  of  the 
Jewish  nation.  "  I  persecuted  the  Church  ;  "  i.  e. 
the  Jewish  nation.     Comment  is  unnecessary. 

Two  causes  have  favored  the  misinterpretation  of 
Scripture  on  this  subject. 

The  first  of  these  is  an  ambiguous  use  of  the 
epithets  visible  and  invisible.  The  saints  in  heaven 
are  invisible  to  mortal  eyes ;  but  that  part  of  the 
Church  of  the  first  bom  which  still  remains  on 
earth,  instead  of  being  invisible,  is  a  city  set  on  a 
hill,  that  cannot  be  hid.  The  Saviour  enjoined  on 
his  followers  to  let  their  light  shine  before  men,  that 
their  good  works,   not  their  church  organization, 


40  CHURCH    POUTY. 

should  be  seen.  The  saints  are  distinguished  from 
the  ungodly  world  by  their  holiness  of  life ;  they 
need  not  a  mark  in  their  right  hand  or  in  their 
forehead,  in  order  that  their  characters  may  be 
known  and  read  of  all  men. 

From  the  confounding  of  visibility  with  organ- 
ization originated  the  remark  of  Dr.  M.  :  *  "  Nor 
is  it  to  be  imagined  that  he  (Saul)  was  able  to 
pick  out  the  elect  and  persecute  them."  The  ob- 
jects of  persecution  were  not  rendered  visible  to 
Saul  by  ecclesiastical  organization.  He  did  not 
pick  them  out  by  searching  for  their  names  in  some 
church  book.  They  are  called  "  the  disciples  of 
the  Lord"  —  the  saints  —  and  their  relation  to 
Christ  is  clearly  intimated  in  the  inquiry,  "Why 
persecutest  thou  we  ?  "  The  persecution  was 
aimed  at  Jesus  and  his  genuine  disciples,  and  the 
guilt  of  it  was  estimated  accordingly ;  nor  was  it 
necessary,  in  order  that  Saul  should  persecute  the 
true  disciples  of  Christ,  that  they  should,  on  the 
one  hand,  be  separated  from  any  false  professors 
who  might  chance  to  be  among  them ;  or,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  they  should  be  incorporated  with 
these  false  professors,  under  some  system  of  eccle- 
siastical government.  Samson  could  bum  the  corn 
of  the  Philistines,  without  either  separating  the 
wheat  from  the  tares  or  binding  the  whole  in  one 
great  bundle.  And  a  man  may  exclude  the  light 
of  day  from  his  chamber,  though  he  neither  "  pick 
out "  the  sunbeams  from  the  motes  that  float  in 

♦  This  is  the  error  of  Bellarmine,  de  Ecclesia  Mil.  III. 
cap.  12.  Non  dici  potest  [ecclesia]  societas  hoiuinum, 
uisi  in  extemis  et  visibilibus  signis  consLstat.  See,  also , 
Walter,  Kirch cnreoht,  ^Wl. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  41 

them,  nor  press  tbe  light  and  the  motes  together 
into  one  consolidated  mass.  It  should  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  our  present  inquiry  is  not, 
whether  the  term  Church  includes,  in  its  proper 
signification,  false  professors  as  well  as  true ;  but 
whether  all  professors,  both  true  and  false,  consti- 
tute one  organized  society.  So  far,  therefore,  as 
the  illustration  of  our  present  subject  is  concerned, 
it  is  of  no  importance  whether  the  term  wheat  may 
properly  signify  the  tares  as  well  as  the  wheat ;  or 
the  term  light,  the  motes  as  well  as  the  sunbeams. 
The  only  question  is,  whether  one  organized  mass 
must  be  formed  by  the  wheat  and  the  tares,  before 
they  can  be  burned ;  or  by  the  sunbeams  and  the 
motes,  before  they  can  be  excluded. 

Saul  persecuted  the  Church  when  he  persecuted 
such  of  its  members  as  were  within  his  reach. 
What  was  done  to  tbe  part  was  regarded  as  done 
to  the  whole ;  and  what  was  done  against  the 
members  on  earth  was  regarded  as  done  against 
the  head  in  heaven.  On  the  same  principle  of 
interpretation  we  may  understand  the  phrases  : 
"Gains,  the  host  of  the  whole  Church,"  —  Rom. 
16 :  23.  "  Give  none  offence  to  the  Church  of 
God,"—  1  Cor.  10  :  32.  They  import  hospitality 
to  saints  generally,  and  offence  to  saints  generally. 
But  that  the  saints  should  be  entertained,  offended, 
or  persecuted,  it  is  not  necessary  that  they  should 
be  united  in  a  Visible  Church  Catholic.  These 
phrases  are  two  of  the  remaining  proof  texts  of  Dr. 
M.,  and,  like  the  three  before  quoted,  prove  nothing 
to  his  purpose. 

A  second  cause  which  has  contributed  to  the  mis- 


42  CHURCH    POLITY. 

interpretation  of  Scripture  on  the  subject,  is  a  secu- 
larized view  of  the  Christian  ministry. 

The  Saviour,  at  Pilate's  bar,  declared,  "  My 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.  If  my  kingdom  were 
of  this  world,  then  would  my  servants  fight."  In 
this  declaration  it  is  clearly  implied,  that  the  ofiBcers 
in  his  kingdom,  like  the  kingdom  itself,  belong  to 
another  world.  When  he  gave  to  Peter  his  great 
pastoral  commission,  in  the  memorable  words,  "  Feed 
my  sheep, —  Feed  my  lambs," — he  prescribed  spir- 
itual duties,  and  appointed  him  a  pastor,  not  to  a 
single  congregation,  nor  the  Visible  Church  Catholic, 
but  to  the  spiritual  flock  of  Christ.  The  food  ad- 
ministered is  spiritual,  and  the  recipients  must  be 
spiritual ;  the  food  is  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word. 
The  recipients  are  the  new-bom  babes  who  desire, 
and  the  believers,  to  whom  Christ  is  precious.  To 
suppose  infant  and  adult  members  of  the  Visible 
Church  Catholic  to  be  intended,  is  a  gross  miscon- 
ception of  the  Saviour's  design. 

When  Peter  met  with  Simon  the  Sorcerer,  who 
had  professed  faith  in  Christ  and  been  baptized,  he 
did  not  on  that  account  recognize  him  as  one  of 
Christ's  sheep,  and  feed  him  accordingly ;  nor  did 
he  wait  for  the  Church  Catholic  to  bring  its  power 
to  bear  on  this  part  of  the  great  body,  and  expel 
the  impurity.  Peter  regarded  not  his  profession, 
but  his  spiritual  state  ;  not  his  relation  to  any  visi- 
ble Church,  but  his  relation  to  Clirist  and  things 
Spiritual. 

As  Peter  felt  and  acted,  so  felt  and  acted  all  the 
Apostles ;  and  so  they  taught  all  the  primitive  min- 
isters to  feel  and  act.     So  Peter  taught  : 

"  The  elders  which  are  among  you  I  exhort,  who 


CHURCH    POLITY.  43 

am  also  an  elder,  and  a  witness  of  the  sufferings  of 
Christ,  and  also  a  partaker  of  the  glory  that  shall 
be  revealed : 

"  Feed  the  flock  of  God,  which  is  among  you, 
taking  the  oversight  thereof ;  not  by  constraint,  but 
willingly  ;  not  for  filthy  lucre,  but  of  a  ready  mind  ; 

"  Neither  as  being  lords  over  God's  heritage,  but 
being  ensamples  to  the  flock. 

"And  when  the  chief  shepherd  shall  appear,  ye 
shall  receive  a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away." 
1  Peter  5:1-4. 

So  Paul  taught  the  elders  at  Ephesus  : 

"  Take  heed,  therefore,  unto  yourselves,  and  to  all 
the  flock  over  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made 
you  overseers,  to  feed  the  church  of  God,  which 
he  hath  purchased  with  his  own  blood." —  Acts  20  : 
28. 

So  he  taught  his  son  Timothy : 

"  But  if  I  tarry  long,  that  thou  mayest  know  how 
thou  oughtest  to  behave  thyself  in  the  house  of  God, 
which  is  the  church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and 
groundof  the  truth."— 1  Tim.  3:  15. 

These  men  referred  every  thing  to  eternity,  and 
the  heart-searching  God.  They  regarded  them- 
selves as  members  of  a  spiritual  body ;  and  to  their 
view  the  flock  of  God  —  the  heritage  of  God  —  the 
house  of  God  —  the  Church  of  God,  consisted  of 
those  who  were  bound  to  them  by  spiritual  ties,  and 
whom  they  expected  to  meet  in  heaven. 

The  spirituality  of  the  Cliristian  ministry  is  viv- 
idly represented  in  1  Cor.  12  chap.  The  body  of 
Christ  is  one  with  many  members,  who  are  baptized 
into  it  by  one  Spirit,  and  drink  of  one  Spirit.  The 
eye,  the  ear,  the  hands,  the  feet,  have  their  proper 


44  CHURCH    POLITY. 

offices  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole.  God  hath  set 
them  in  the  body  :  and  of  none  of  them  can  it  be 
said  it  is  not  of  the  body.  All  the  diversities  of 
gifts  are  from  the  same  Spirit.  From  that  member 
which  sustains  the  highest  and  most  important  office, 
to  that  which  occupies  the  least  honorable  place, 
one  spiritual  sympathy  extends,  which  pervades  the 
whole  and  excludes  the  possibility  of  schism.  As- 
suredly this  is  not  a  description  of  the  Visible 
Church  Catholic.  No  false  apostles,  no  false  pro- 
phets, no  ministers  of  Satan,  in  the  form  of  minis- 
ters of  righteousness,  belong  to  this  body.  God 
has  not  set  such  in  it  The  Spirit  has  not  baptized 
such  into  it.  Such  have  not  a  care  for  the  body. 
Of  all  such  it  may,  with  truth,  be  said,  they  are  not 
of  the  body.  Yet  such  officers  and  members  must 
belong  to  the  body,  if  Dr.  M.'s  interpretation  of 
the  28th  verse  of  this  chapter  is  correct.  This  verse 
is  his  only  remaining  proof-text ;  and,  like  all  the 
rest,  utterly  fails,  when  rightly  interpreted,  to  serve 
the  purpose  for  which  it  was  quoted. 

The  evils  resulting  from  secularized  views  of  the 
Christian  Church  and  ministry,  are  incalculable. 
This  cause  gave  birth  to  the  Man  of  Sin,  and  all 
the  lordship  which  has  been  exercised  over  God's 
heritage.  It  has  furnished,  with  sheep's  clothing, 
the  grievous  wolves  that  have  devoured  the  flock. 
To  it  may  be  ascribed,  in  chief  part,  the  divisions 
which  have  been  the  opprobrium  of  Christianity 
and  the  stumbling-block  of  infidels.  Having  lost 
the  unity  of  the  spirit,  the  professors  of  religion,  lest 
they  should,  by  the  independence  of  the  churches, 
and  the  uncontrolled  personal  responsibility  of  every 
member,  "  be  scattered  abroad  upon  the  face  of  the 


CmJKCH   POLITY.  45 

whole  earth,"  resolved  to  build  a  tower,  whose  top 
should  reach  to  heaven,  and  to  inscribe  on  it  the 
motto,  VISIBLE  UNITY.  But,  as  it  happened  to  the 
builders  at  Babel,  their  language  became  con- 
founded, and  their  mad  scheme  ended  in  discord 
and  division.  Carnal  leaders  draw  away  disciples 
after  them  ;  and  those  who  follow  in  such  divisions 
are  carnal.  "  While  one  saith,  I  am  of  Paul;  and 
another,  I  am  of  ApoUos ;  are  ye  not  carnal,  and 
walk  as  men  ?  "  5lany  schemes  have  been  pro- 
posed, for  the  healing  of  these  divisions,  by  the 
amalgamation  of  religious  societies,  but  all  will 
prove  abortive,  till  men  return  to  the  unity  of  the 
Spirit. 

Having  examined  the  question  concerning  the 
Visible  Church  Catholic,  as  real;  we  proceed  to 
consider  it  • 

II.  As  verbal.  The  verbal  question  may  be 
thus  stated  :  Is  the  term  Church  properly  used  to 
denote  all  the  profes.sors  of  the  true  religion  taken 
collectively  V  This  is  a  question  of  comparatively 
little  importance  ;  yet  it  deserves  consideration,  on 
account  of  the  close  connection  which  is  often  found 
to  subsist  between  errors  of  thought  and  errors  of 
language. 

Men  may  be  classified  with  respect  to  any  pro- 
perty by  which  some  are  distinguished  from  others. 
The  tall,  the  wise,  the  honest,  the  aged,  are  classes 
of  which  we  may  have  occasion  to  think  and  speak. 
But  these  classes  exist  as  classes  in  our  minds  only. 
The  individuals  of  each  class  exist  separately  and 
independently,  and  may,  in  fact,  have  less  to  do 
with  each  other  than  with  individuals  of  other  classes. 
So,  all  the  professors  of  the  true  religion  may  be 


46  CHURCH   POLITY. 

classed  together,  and  may  be  thought  and  spoken  of 
as  if  forming  a  company  distinct  from  the  rest  of 
mankind.  It  is  therefore  possible  that  the  term 
Church  may  be  used  to  denote  this  class  of  men, 
without  implying  that  they  are  united  in  a  visi- 
ble organization.  But  can  it  be  so  used  with  pro- 
priety ? 

1.  The  term  which  is  rendered  Church  in  the 
New  Testament,  signifies  an  assembly.  Dr.  Mason 
says,  "  Whenever  it  occurs  you  are  sure  of  an 
assembly,  and  nothing  more."  Now  all  the  pro- 
fessors of  religion,  though  they  form  a  class  in  our 
mental  conception,  do  not  form  an  assembly.  Th«y 
never  have  assembled,  and  they  never  will  assemble 
except  on  the  day  of  judgment ;  and  even  then  they 
will  be  separated  from  each  other  —  some  on  the 
right  hand,  and  some  on  the  left. 

2.  In  many  of  the  examples  in  which  the  term 
Church  is  in  the  Scriptures  used  in  its  Catholic 
sense,  it  clearly  denotes  the  body  of  real  saints. 
Of  those  examples  in  which  it  has  been  supposed 
to  denote  all  the  professors  of  religion,  not  one  has 
been  found  that,  on  a  careful  examination,  requires 
this  interpretation.  To  assign  a  new  meaning,  with- 
out necessity,  is  not  in  accordance  with  sound  criti- 
cism. 

3.  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  the  inspired 
writers,  whenever  they  employed  the  term  Church 
in  its  Catholic  sense,  had  present  to  their  minds  the 
distinction  between  true  and  false  professors.  A 
field  of  wheat  may  be  called  a  field  of  wheat,  with- 
out any  regard  to  tares  which  may  chance  to  be  in 
it.  So  the  several  churches  were  addressed  as 
believers,  disciples,  saints,  &c.,  without  regard  to 


CHUfiCH   POLITY.  47 

&Ise  professors  who  might  chance  to  be  among  them ; 
yet  the  terms  believers,  disciples,  and  saints,  do  not 
acquire  a  new  meaning  from  such  application  of 
them. 

We  may  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  term 
Church,  when  used  in  its  Catholic  sense,  denotes 
the  body  of  real  saints,  as  distinguished  from  all 
other  persons  ;  that  it  never  denotes  all  the  profes- 
sors of  religion,  as  distinguished  from  the  body  of 
real  saints  ;  and  that  it  cannot  include  false  profes- 
sors of  religion,  unless  it  be  in  a  vague  and  loose 
application  of  it. 

It  has  been  asked,  Is  not  baptism  the  door  into 
the  Church  ?  To  this  question  it  might  be  a  suffi- 
cient reply,  to  refer  to  the  tenth  chapter  of  John, 
the  only  place  of  Scripture  in  which  the  door  into  the 
fold  of  Christ  is  mentioned.  But  if  we  must  furnish 
an  answer  from  the  analogy  of  faith,  rather  than  by 
direct  appeal  to  Scripture,  it  will  be  needful  to  find 
the  house,  before  we  seek  for  the  door.  If  there  is 
no  such  building  as  the  Visible  Church  Catholic,  all 
inquiry  about  the  door  into  it  must,  of  course,  be 
useless. 

Baptism  has  been  placed,  by  Christ,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  all  the  outward  duties  which  he  requires  of 
his  followers.  It  is,  therefore,  an  initiatory  ser- 
vice. But  all  agree  that,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Ethiopian  Eunuch,  baptism  does  not  introduce  to 
membership  in  a  particular  church ;  and  it  is  clear 
that  an  individual  must  be  a  member  of  Christ's 
spiritual  body,  before  baptism,  or  any  other  duty, 
can  be  acceptably  performed.  "  Without  me  ye 
can  do  nothing." 

For  whose  accommodation  is  this  building  needed, 


48  CHURCU    POLITY. 

of  which  baptism  is  the  door  ?  It  denies  shelter,  of 
course,  to  all  unbaptized  persons ;  and  all  regen- 
erate persons  are  better  provided  for,  having  been 
admitted  into  Christ's  spiritual  house.  The  only 
persons,  therefore,  who  need  it,  are  the  unregen- 
erate  baptized,  the  followers  of  Simon  the  Socerer, 
who,  while  they  profess  Christ,  are  in  the  gall  of 
bitterness  and  the  bond  of  iniquity.  Verily,  for 
such  persons,  God's  wise  master  builders  are  not 
required  to  provide  a  buildmg  ;  much  less  have 
they  been  authorized  to  place  one  of  Christ's  ordi- 
nances as  the  door  into  it.  Pedobaptists  have  found 
difficulty  in  assigning  a  suitable  apartment  to  their 
baptized  infants  ;  and  have  placed  them,  not  so  pro- 
perly in  the  Church,  as  within  its  pale.  Whether 
it  would  better  accord  with  the  analogy  of  this  faith, 
to  call  baptism  the  gate,  than  the  door,  may  be  left 
for  those  to  decide  who  are  unwilling  to  keep  the 
ordinances  as  they  were  delivered. 

Baptism  is  not,  like  the  Lord's  supper,  a  social 
rite.  It  signifies  the  fellowship  of  the  individual 
believer  with  Christ,  not  the  fellowship  of  believers 
with  one  another.  The  obligation  to  be  baptized  is 
independent  of  the  obligation  to  form  social  rela- 
tions with  other  disciples,  and  is  prior.  Baptism  is, 
therefore,  a  qualification  for  admission  into  a  Church 
of  external  organization;  but  it  does  not  confer 
membership. 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

PAETICULAR    CHUBCHKS. 

The  Gospel  is  admirably  adapted  to  man.  Its 
disclosures  of  grace  meet  his  wants,  aa  a  fallen, 
guilty  creature;  and  its  revelation  of  a  future 
state  satisfies  the  instinctive  longings  of  his  soul 
for  immortality.  The  ecclesiastical  polity  of  the 
New  Testament  is  not  less  suited  to  him,  as  a 
social  being.  The  instincts  of  our  nature  lead  us 
to  society,  and  many  of  our  noblest  qualities  are 
called  forth  and  nurtured  by  its  influence.  A  par- 
ticular Church  is  a  society  of  believers  baptized 
upon  profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ. 

When  the  Apostles  went  forth,  under  the  borad 
commission  of  their  ascended  Master,  preaching  the 
Gospel,  they  gathered  together  the  fruits  of  their 
ministry,  wherever  they  went,  into  local  societies. 
These  are  the  only  Churches  known  to  the  New 
Testament.  They  constitute  the  external  develop- 
ment of  Christ's  kingdom;  and  are  employed,  as 
nurseries,  to  prepare  the  genuine  children  of  the 
kingdom  for  their  ultimate  and  permanent  abode. 

A  Church  of  Christ  is  a  single  congregation  of 
professed  believers,  formed  by  the  mutual  agree- 


60  CHURCH   POLITY. 

ment  of  its  members,  and  designed  for  religious 
purposes.  In  this  sense  the  word  is  used  by  the 
sacred  writers  more  than  sixty  times.  This  is  the 
view  which  has  always  been  held  by  Baptists.  "  A 
particular  gospel  Church,"  says  one  of  the  earliest 
authorities  in  this  country,  "  consists  of  a  company 
of  saints  incorporated  by  a  special  covenant,  into 
one  distinct  body,  and  meeting  together  in  one 
place,  for  the  enjoyment  of  fellowship  with  each 
other,  and  with  Christ  their  head,  in  all  his  insti- 
tutions, to  their  mutual  edification,  and  the  glory 
of  God  through  the  Spirit."*  2  Cor.  8:5;  Acts 
2:  1. 

Several  important  principles  are  involved  in  the 
scriptural  definition  of  a  gospel  Church. 

1.  A  Church  is  a  single  local  society. 

2.  It  is  composed  of  professed  believers. 

3.  It  possesses  the  power  of  admitting  to  mem- 
bership, exercising  discipline,  choosing  its  officers, 
and,  in  general,  managing  its  own  affairs. 

4.  It  is  independent  of  all  other  Churches. 
Each  of  these  points  demands  a  separate  investi- 
gation. 

*  Summary  of  Church  Discipline  of  the  Charleston  Asso- 
ciation, republished  by  Rev.  D.  Sheppard,  Charleston,  1831. 
This  Summary  was  prepared,  probably,  by  Oliver  Hart, 
Francis  Pelot,  and  David  Williams.  Rippon's  Register, 
for  A.  D.  1796,  p.  511. 


CHAPTER    V. 

A    CHURCH    IS    A    SINGLE    LOCAL    SOCIETY. 

This  is  clear : 

1.  From  the  meaning  and  use  of  the  term.  We 
read  in  the  New  Testament  of  "the  Church  "  in  a 
particular  city,  village,  and  even  house,  and  of 
"  the  Churches  "  of  certain  regions ;  but  never  of 
a  Church  involving  a  plurality  of  congregations.* 
"A  bishoprick  was  but  a  single  congregation. "f 
There  is  no  trace  of  any  other  kind  of  Church, 
presbyterian,  diocesan,  or  national.  J 

2.  From  the  history  of  the  Churches  in  the  New 
Testament. 

The  Church  at  Jerusalem,  the  model  after  which 
the  other  Churches  seem  to  have  been  formed, §  was 
a  sinsrle  consfreoration,  which  could  meet  together 
for  social  worship  and  the  transaction  of  Church 
business.  II     So  also  the  Churches  at  Antioch,  Co- 

*  Acts  2:  47;  13:  1;  Rom.  16:  1,5;  Col.  4:  16;  Acts 
9  :  31 ;  15  :  40,  41 ;  1  Cor,  16  :  19. 

t  King's  Prim.  Church,  cap.  2,  §  12. 

t  R.  Hall's  Wks.  4,  p.  394. 

§  Gieseler's  Church  Hist.  I.  p.  56. 

II  Acts  2:  44,  46;  4:  23—31;  6:  11—14.  Comp.  3:  2^ 
11 ;  6 :  1-6. 


52  CHURCH   POLITY. 

rintli,   Epbesus,   &c.,   were    all    single    congrega- 
tions.* 

It  lias  been  objected  tbat  tbe  members  of  tbese 
Cburcbes  were  too  numerous  to  constitute  a  single 
congregation.!  But  if  the  New  Testament  alludes, 
in  these  cases,  to  only  one  Church,  and  affirms  that 
"  the  whole  Church"  did  meet  together  and  trans- 
act business  in  common,  the  objection  is  negatived 
by  the  authority  of  Scripture.  The  argument  which 
attempts  to  disprove  the  congregational  polity  of  the 
Church  at  Jerusalem,  is  similar  to  that  by  which 
the  baptism  of  its  members  has  been  assailed.  The 
narrative  in  Acts  plainly  intimates  that  the  three 
thousand  converts  were  baptized,  (or  immersed.) 
But  it  is  objected  that  they  were  too  numerous  to 
be  baptized,  and  therefore  must  have  been  sprink- 
led. In  either  case  the  baptized  congregationalist 
rejects  the  unwarrantable  assumption. f 

*  Acts  13:  1-4;  14:  25—27;  15:  22—30;  1  Cor.  11:  20, 
33  ;  14 :  23,  26. 

t  Dick's  Theol.  2,  p.  478.  Hill,  p  692.  Milner,  Church 
Hist.  Cent.  3,  ch.  20. 

J  The  baptism  of  the  three  thousand  is  not  so  improbable 
a  ease  after  all.  I  baptized,  on  one  occasion,  seventy-six 
persons  in  seventeen  minutes,  and  that  without  any  special 
view  to  expedition.  I  did  not  even  know  that  any  one  was 
noticing  the  time.  The  twelve  apostles,  baptizing  at  the 
same  rate,  would  have  baptized  the  three  thousand  in  fifty- 
five  minutes  and  fifty-five  seconds  ! 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  learned  that  "Elder 


CHURCH  POLITY. 

It  is  not,  however,  material  to  the  argument  to 
prove  that  the  members  of  a  Church  actually  did 
meet  together  for  social  worship.  The  Scriptures 
inform  us  that  this  was  the  case  at  Jerusalem.  In 
other  cities,  where  the  number  of  members  was  very 
large,  local  convenience  may  have  been  consulted ; 
and  there  may  have  been  portions  of  the  Church 
that  held  their  religious  meetings  in  different  places, 
but  stiU  constituting,  as  in  some  of  our  large  cities, 
branches  or  arms  of  the  Church  located  in  those 
cities.  This  is  rendered  probable,  by  the  existence 
of  a  plurality  of  bishops.  It  is  sufficient  to  show 
that  the  Churches  of  the  New  Testament  were  sin- 
gle societies,  that  the  members  of  a  certain  locality 
constituted  a  Church,  not  Churches,  and  that  they 
were  addressed  by  the  Apostles,  as  a  unit  and  not  a 
plurality.  Even  if  it  be  conceded,  therefore,  that 
the  number  of  elders,  found  in  the  primitive 
Churches,  was  rendered  necessary  by  their  habit 
of  assembling  in  diflferent  places  of  worship,  this 
does  not  affect  the  congregational  character  of  these 
Churches  ;  since  each  body  of  elders  was  addressed 

Courtney  baptized  seventy-five  persons  in  the  basin  on 
the  canal,  in  Richmond,  Va.  He  had  assistants,  who 
led  the  candidates  to  and  from  him ;  and  he  performed  the 
whole  in  seventeen  minutes,  notwithstanding  he  was  sev- 
enty years  old."  Life  of  John  Leland,  Richmond,  1836,  p. 
33.  For  similar  cases  among  the  earlier  Christians,  see 
Christian  Rev.  III.  p.  91. 

5* 


54  CHURCH   POLITV. 

as  the  officers  of  "the  Church,"  plainly  evincing 
that  the  community  to  which  they  were  attached, 
constituted  a  single  society. 

3.  From  tlie  large  number  of  distinct  Churches 
which  are  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament. 

Churches  seem  to  have  been  instituted  upon  the 
principle  of  local  convenience.  Whenever  a  body 
of  converts  were  found,  who  could  conveniently 
assemble  together  for  the  discharge  of  the  duties 
of  Church  members,  there  a  Church  was  organized. 
Hence  we  find  separate  Churches  contiguous  to 
each  other.  The  Church  at  Cenchrea  was  only 
nine  miles  from  that  at  Corinth.*  In  the  epistle 
to  the  Colossians  the  names  of  four  distinct  Churches 
occur,  located  within  a  distance  of  five  miles,  t  Five 
and  thirty  different  Churches  are  referred  to  in  the 
New  Testament,  besides  a  great  many  more  that  are 
comprehended  in  the  general  designation,  "  Churches 
of  Asia,"  "  Churches  of  Macedonia,"  &c.J 

This  view  of  a  Christian  Church  is  so  obviously 
scriptural,  as  to  have  commanded  the  assent  of  a 
large  number  of  historians  and  theologians.     The 

*  Rom.  16:  1. 

t  Col.  4 :  13 — 16.  Calraet  states  that  Hierapolis  and 
Laodicea  were  five  miles  apart,  and  Colosse  midway  between 
them. 

X  Punchard,  on  Congregationalism,  p.  49,  gives  a  list  of 
the  thirty-five  churches.  Also,  Dr.  Curtis,  Bible  Episco- 
pacy, p.  97. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  55 

following  are  a  few  of  many  authorities  that  might 
be  cited  : 

"  The  simplest  conception  of  a  Church  is  that  of 
a  community  of  believers,  dwelling  in  the  same 
place,  and  associated  for  the  promotion  of  Christ's 
kingdom."  Schleiermacher.  Kurtze  Darstellung 
des  theol.  Stud.  §  277. 

In  the  primitive  age  "  a  Church  and  a  diocese 
seem  to  have  been,  for  a  considerable  time,  co- 
extensive and  identical.  And  each  Church  or  dio- 
cese, and  consequently  each  superintendent  [i.  e. 
bishop  or  elder],  though  connected  with  the  rest  by 
the  ties  of  faith  and  love  and  charity,  seems  to  have 
been  perfectly  independent,  as  far  as  regards  any 
power  of  control."  Archbishop  Whately,  Kingdom 
of  Christ,  p.  136. 

"  A  Church  I  take  to  be  a  voluntary  society  of 
men,  joining  themselves  together  of  their  own  ac- 
cord, in  order  to  the  public  worshipping  of  God,  in 
such  manner  as  they  judge  acceptable  to  him,  and 
effectual  to  the  salvation  of  their  souls."  Locke, 
Letter  I.  on  Toleration.     Wks.  fol.  2,  p.  235. 

"In  no  approved  writers,  for  the  space  of  two 
hundred  years  after  Christ,  is  there  any  mention 
made  of  any  other  organical,  visibly  professing 
Church,  but  that  only  which  is  parochial,  or  congre- 
gational."   J.  Owen,  Wks.  20,  p.  132.* 

*  Haldane,  Social  Worship,  chap.  5,  $  1.  Leonard  Bacon, 
Manual  for  Church  Members,  p.  15. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MEMBERS    OF    A   CHTJRCH. 

The  primary  and  indispensable  qualification  for 
membership  in  a  particular  Church,  consists  in  a  con- 
nection with  the  general  Church,  or  body  of  Christ. 
"  Every  one  is  so  far  a  member  of  Christ's  Church 
as  he  is  a  member  of  Christ's  body."*  Each 
particular  Church  seeks  to  represent,  in  itself, 
the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  ought,  therefore,  to  be 
composed  entirely  of  spiritual  materials.  It  is  no 
part  of  its  design  to  embrace  unbelievers,  and  pre- 
pare them  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  They  have 
no  right  to  its  privileges  and  blessings.  They  are 
intruders  at  its  ordinances.  No  ecclesiastical  recog- 
nition of  them  as  children,  can  change  their  relation 
as  aliens  and  strangers  ;  and  they  who  introduce 
them  contravene  the  declared  will  of  the  great  Head 
of  the  Church.  The  gates  of  his  kingdom  are  open 
to  none  but  converted  men.  It  is,  therefore,  the 
imperative  duty  of  the  Churches  to  admit  to  member- 
ship none  but  such  as  give  satisfactory  evidence  that 
they  have  been  born  again.  This  was  the  practice 
of  the  apostles,  t 

*  T.  Jackson  on  the  Church,  p.  19.     Phila.,  1844. 

+  "  No  one,"  says  Marheinecke,  "  is  a  member  of  the 
Church  by  birth :  he  becomes  one  first  by  the  new  birth." 
Die  Grundlehren  der  christlichen  Dogmatik.  {  693. 


CHURCH    POLITY.  57 

That  the  Churches  planted  by  them  were  compos- 
ed of  such  as  they  deemed  real  believers  is  evident, 

1.  From  the  addresses  of  the  different  epistles: — 
"  Paul,  to  all  that  be  in  Rome,  beloved  of  God, 
called  saints.  To  the  Church  of  God  at  Corinth,  to 
them  that  are  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus,  called  saints. 
To  the  saints  which  are  at  Ephesus  and  the  faithful 
in  Christ  Jesus.  To  the  saints  in  Christ  Jesus, 
which  are  at  Philippi.  Peter,  to  them  that  have 
obtained  like  precious  faith." 

2.  From  the  general  tenor  of  the  epistles.  In 
proof  of  this  position,  it  is  simply  necessary  to 
refer  the  reader  to  these  inspired  compositions  them- 
selves. Every  allusion  to  the  origin  of  the  Church- 
es ;  every  description  of  the  character  of  the  mem- 
bers ;  every  exhortation,  rebuke,  and  warning ;  all 
directions  with  respect  to  their  government  and  dis- 
cipline, bear  ample  evidence  that  they  were  contem- 
plated by  the  authors  of  the  epistles,  as  comprising 
only  those  who  had  made  a  credible  profession  of  their 
faith  in  the  Redeemer.  Had  the  apostles  sanctioned 
the  admission  of  unconverted  men  into  the  Churches, 
their  practice  would  have  been  at  variance  with  the 
spirit  of  their  subsequent  communications  to  them. 
To  address  such  persons  as  the  children  of  light  and 
the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  would  have  been  to 
use  language  without  meaning,  or  singularly  delu- 
sive.    The  limits  of  this  work  forbid  an  extended 


8  CHURCH   POLITY. 

investigation  of  this  topic.  The  reader  is  requested 
to  consult  the  following  passages  of  Scripture,  in 
which  the  character  of  Church  members  is  clearly 
exhibited  :*  Col.  3  :  9  ;  1  Thess.  5  :  5  ;  1  Cor.  6  : 
19  ;  5  :  7  ;  3  :  9—17  ;  2  Cor.  7  :  8,  18  ;  6  :  14, 
18  ;  Acts  8  :  26—40  ;  1  Pet.  2  :  S.f 

3.  The  design  of  Christian  Churches  affords  addi- 
tional evidence  that  none  but  believers  were  contem- 
plated in  their  organization.  This  part  of  the  sub- 
ject has  been  presented  in  so  just  and  beautiful  a 
view  by  a  pious  pedobaptist  writer,  that  I  cannot  do 
better  than  to  transcribe  his  words  : —  "  The  Church 
is  a  sacred  enclosure  taken  in  from  the  world  — 
brought  into  cultivation  by  the  Divine  Husbandman, 

*  In  the  famous  controversy  between  Pres.  Edwards,  and 
Solomon  "Williams,  concerning  the  half-way  covenant,  the 
former  took  the  broad  scriptural  ground,  that  none  but 
such  as  gave  credible  evidence  of  their  faith  in  Christ  should 
be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  But,  as  a  pedobaptist, 
he  was  obliged  to  admit  that  those  who  had  been  baptized 
in  infancy  were  "in  some  sort  members  of  the  Church." 
In  this  they  were  both  agreed.  Here  Williams  erected  his 
strong  battery,  and  managed  it  with  great  effect.  He  prov- 
ed that  the  position  of  his  opponent,  if  maintained,  would 
annihilate  infant  baptism.  Either  that  ordinance  must  be 
given  up,  or  Edwards  must  surrender.  He  did  not  choose 
to  abandon  infant  baptism,  and  was  vanquished,  not  by  the 
truth  of  his  opponent,  but  by  his  own  error.  Edwards, 
Humble  Inquiry,  Works  4,  p.  423 — 428.  Curtis,  Bib.  Episc. 
p.  173. 

t  Haldane,  Social  Worship,  ch,  6.  Pilchard  Congrega- 
tionalism, pp.  40 — 17- 


CHURCU   POLITT.  59 

and  intended  to  be  filled  exclusively  with  the  plants 
of  righteousness.  He  designed  the  Church  to  be 
his  own  peculium  :  it  is  the  only  fortress  which  he 
holds  in  a  revolted  world ;  and  he  intended,  there- 
fore, that  no  authority  should  be  known  in  it,  no 
laws  acknowledged,  but  his  own  ;  that  no  parties 
should  obtain  admission,  but  those  '  who  are  called, 
and  chosen,  and  jaithful ; '  so  that  to  open  its  gates 
for  the  entrance  of  any  of  the  revolted,  however  spe- 
cious the  pretext,  is  a  betrayal  of  the  most  sacred 
trust,  and  treachery  to  the  great  cause  of  Christ.  " 
Harris,  Great  Teacher,  p.  214. 

So  writes  Dr.  Smyth,  and,  indeed,  every  evangel- 
ical writer,  when  not  thinking  of  infant  baptism. 
"  Only  those  who  make  a  credible  profession  of 
their  faith  in  Christ,  can  be  admitted  as  members  of 
the  Church  of  Christ ;  because  its  privileges,  by 
their  very  nature,  are  intended  only  for  those  who,  in 
the  judgment  of  charity,  are  disciples  of  Christ."* 

If  these  views  are  just  and  scriptural,  it  is  evident 
that  no  place  is  provided,  in  a  Christian  Church,  for 
such  as  do  not,  or  cannot  profess  their  faith  in 
Christ.  As  infants  belong  to  this  class,  they  are  ex- 
cluded by  the  original  and  divine  constitution  of  a 

*  Eccl.  Catechism,  p.  80.  This  is  excellent.  But  we 
find,  in  the  same  work,  among  the  meanings  ascribed  to 
the  word  Church,  the  following:  "The  whole  body  of 
those,  with  their  children,  viho  profess  the  true  religion." 
p.  10,  Dick  Theol.  2,  p.  380,  460.    Punchard,  p.  40. 


60  CHURCH  POLITY. 

Christian  Church.  Upon  the  same  principle  they 
are  excluded  from  baptism,  since  the  ordinance  is  the 
appointed  method  of  professing  our  faith  in  the  Re- 
deemer. The  grounds  upon  which  the  right  of  in- 
fants to  baptism  is  based,  are  various  and  contradic- 
tory ;  they  are  all  alike  unscriptural.  "  It  is  a  com- 
mon sentiment,"  observes  one  of  its  advocates,  "  that 
the  baptism  of  children  makes  them  members  of  the 
Church  ;  but  this  is  an  error.  Their  baptism  does 
not  make  them  members,  it  only  recognizes  their 
right  of  membership  already  existing ;  their  mem- 
bership is  not  founded  upon  their  baptism,  but 
their  baptism  upon  their  membership."*  But  an- 
other affirms  t  that  "  the  children  of  the  members 
cannot  be  considered  as  members  of  the  Church, 
being  incapable  of  fulfilling  the  duties  of  that  rela- 
tion." A  more  recent  writer  teaches  that  baptism 
"  brings  the  child  into  the  Church  of  God,  to  which 
he  has  promised  his  favor  and  blessings — translates 
it  from  the  kingdom  of  darkness  into  the  visible 
kingdom  of  God's  dear  Son,  on  earth."  f  There 
is  plainly  a  schism  on  this  point  among  pedobaptists, 

*  Rev.  S.  Helfenstein.  The  Church  of  God.  Am.  Bib. 
Repos.  2,  p.  314.    C.  C.  Jones,  Catechism,  p.  246. 

t  Haldane,  Social  "Worship,  p.  321.  He  afterwards  re- 
nounced infant  baptism.  Indeed  it  is  surprising,  that  one 
who  could  write  such  a  book  should  practice  it. 

J  Rev.  W.  Hodges,  Infant  Baptism  tested  by  Scripture 
and  History,  Phil.  1844,  p.  243. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  61 

according  to  the  views  of  the  respective  denomiaa- 
tions  to  which  they  belong.  The  Papal  and  Episco- 
pal Churches  maintain  that  the  infant  is  made  a 
member  of  the  Church  by  baptism ;  while  the  Lu- 
theran and  Presbyterian  Churches  contend  that  it  is 
entitled  to  the  ordinance,  because  it  is  already  a 
member.  *  To  the  former  class  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  seems  to  belong.  Mr.  Wesley  says : 
"  By  baptism  we  are  admitted  into  the  Church,  and, 
consequently,  made  members  of  Christ,  its  Head,  "f 
Dr.  Bond  has  taken  a  different  view.  "  Baptism  is 
not  properly  the  initiating  ordinance,  by  which  we 
become  subjects  of  this  kingdom,  [Messiah's]  but 
the  ratifying  or  sealing  ordinance,  by  which  we  are 
so  acknowledged  by  the  Church  and  ministry  of 
Christ.  Children  are  initiated  into  the  kingdom  at 
their  birth. "{  This,  it  will  be  perceived,  throws 
the  door  open  to  all  children.  But  pedobaptists 
have  usually  restricted  the  ordinance  to  the  oflfepring 
of  believers.     Even  upon  this  point,  however,  there 

*  C.  G.  Neudecker.  Lehrbuch  der  christl.  DogmeBgesch. 
§  66,  where  he  says  that  the  "  Lutheran,  Reformed,  Roman 
and  Grecian  Catholic  Churches  supported  infant  baptism 
against  the  fanatical  Anabaptists  and  Mennonites,  and 
against  Schwenkfield  on  the  ground  that  it  was,  in  general, 
necessary  to  salvation."    Hinton's  Hist.  Baptism,  p.  338. 

t  Preservatives,  p.  146—150,  quoted  by  Booth.  Vindic. 
Bap.  Sec.  1. 

X  N.  Y.  Christian  Advocate,  copied  in  Biblical  Recorder. 
N.  C,  Jan.  27,  1844. 

6 


62  CHURCH   POLITY. 

is  another  schism.  *  It  is  refreshing  to  turn  from 
the  conflicting  opinions  of  men  to  the  simple  word  of 
God,  which  contains  no  intimation  of  infant  member- 
ship, either  before  or  after  baptism,  and  recognizes 
only  baptized  believers  as  the  constituents  of  a  gos- 
pel Church. 

The  abettors  of  infant  baptism  have,  usually,  rested 
its  claims  upon  an  alledged  identity  of  the  covenant 
of  circumcision  and  the  covenant  of  grace  ;  and,  as- 
suming that  baptism  has  taken  the  place  of  circum- 
cision, have  argued  that,  as  children  were  formerly 
admitted  to  the  latter  ordinance,  they  ought  now  to 
be  to  the  former.  To  examine  at  length  all  the  argu- 
ments by  which  this  subject  has  been  mystified,  does 
not  comport  with  the  limits  of  this  little  book.  It 
will  be  sufficient,  however,  to  expose  some  of  the  lead- 
ing assumptions  involved  in  the  theory  in  question. 

*  Archbishop  Leighton  writes  to  one  of  his  friends  : 
"  Touching  baptism,  freely  my  thought  is,  it  is  a  weak 
notion,  taken  up  on  trust  almost  generally,  to  consider  so 
much,  or  at  all,  the  qualifications  of  the  parents.  Either 
it  is  a  benefit  to  infants,  or  it  is  not.  If  none,  why  then 
administered  at  all?  But  if  it  be,  then  why  should  the 
poor  innocents  be  prejudged  of  it  for  the  parents'  cause  ?  " 
Works,  p.  681.  Baptism,  in  his  view.  "  signifies  and  seals 
our  washing  from  sin  and  our  new  birth  in  Jesus  Christ," 
p.  506.  The  seal,  however,  proves  to  be  very  brittle,  for 
"  the  open  wickedness  of  the  most  testifies  against  them, 
that  though  sprinkled  with  water  in  baptism,  yet  they  are 
strangers  to  the  power  and  gracious  efficacy  of  it ;  they  are 
swearers,  cursers,  drunkards,  unclean,"  p.  223. 


CHURCH    POLITY.  63 

1.  It  involves  the  assumption,  that  the  covenant 
of  circumcision  is  the  covenant  of  grace.  If  this 
were  the  case,  all  who  lived  before  Abraham,  as  well 
as  all,  who,  in  subsequent  times,  are  not  in  the  line 
of  circumcision,  would  be  excluded  from  the  covenant 
of  grace.  What,  then,  becomes  of  Abel  and  other 
antediluvian  patriarchs  V  The  truth  is,  that  circum- 
cision stands  in  no  necessary  relation  to  spiritual  bles- 
sings. It  is  the  distinguishing  mark  of  a  race,  the 
members  of  which  are  determined  by  natural  descent. 
The  possession  of  spiritual  blessings  by  the  circumcis- 
ed is  not  invariable,  but  accidental  to  the  rite  ;  and 
is  determined  upon  other  principles.  Its  design  was, 
together  with  other  rites  and  ceremonies,  which  were 
peculiar  to  the  Jewish  people,  to  segregate,  and, 
consequently,  preserve  the  nation.  "  These  pecu- 
liarities," observes  the  learned  historian  of  the  He- 
brew Commonwealth,  "  formed  the  foundation  upon 
which  was  built  the  great  partition  wall  between 
them  and  other  nations.  "* 

2.  It  assumes  that  the  covenant  made  with  Abra- 
ham, which  involved  spiritual  blessings,  and  the 
covenant  of  circumcision  are  identical.  But  it  is 
evident,  from  the  third  chapter  of  Galatians,  that 
these  covenants  are  distinct.     The  fomier  was  made, 

*  Jahn.  Heb.  Com.  p.  38,  138.  So  Photius  and  Chrysos- 
tom  and  Theodoret,  quoted  by  Dr.  Brantly,  Baptist  Li- 
brary, 3,  p.  400. 


64  CHURCH   POLITY. 

according  to  the  statement  of  the  apostle,  four  hun- 
dred and  thirty  years  before  the  delivery  of  the 
Law.  This  computation  makes  it  coeval  with  the 
calling  of  Abraham  out  of  Ur  of  the  Chaldeos,  an 
event  which  occurred  twenty-four  years  before  the 
covenant  of  circumcision. 

3.  It  confounds  the  natural  with  the  spiritual  seed 
of  Abraham  ;  the  children  of  the  flesh  with  the  chil- 
dren of  the  promise.  These  are  clearly  distinguished 
in  the  word  of  God.  *  The  argument  on  this  point 
is  simple  and  direct.  Tlie  passages  which  are  cited 
in  support  of  infant  baptism,  in  connection  with  the 
Abrahamic  covenant,  must  refer  either  to  his  na- 
tural, or  his  spiritual  seed.  If  to  the  former,  Gentile 
infants  are  excluded,  since  they  are  not  the  lineal 
descendants  of  the  patriarch  ;  if  to  the  latter,  all  in- 
fants are  excluded  by  the  very  terms  which  designate 
the  relation.  "  Know  ye  therefore  that  they  which 
are  of  faith,  the  same  are  the  children  of  Abraham." 

The  above  remarks  are  sufl&cient  to  expose  the 
flimsy  foundation  upon  which  this  theory  is  built ; 
the  weakness  of  which  is  so  apparent,  that  it  has 
been  abandoned  by  many  pedobaptists  themselves,  t 

The  recognition  of  unconverted  persons,  as  mem- 
bers of  a  Christian  Church,  is  an  evil  of  no  ordinary 

*  Gal.  3  :  18,  29 ;  4  :  28,  cf.  Rom.  9  :  7, 9. 

t  Stuart  on  the  O.  T.  p.  394.  Letters  of  David  (Jones) 
and  John  (Dagg)  on  the  Lectures  of  Dr.  "Woods,  Leo.  3. 
C  arson  on  Baptism,  p.  214,  237.     Hinton,  ch.  5,  §  1. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  65 

magnitude.  It  throws  down  the  wall  of  partition 
which  Christ  himself  has  erected,  and  obliterates  the 
distinction  between  the  Church  and  the  world.  A 
society  composed  of  believers,  and  sustained  and  ex- 
tended by  spiritual  instnimentalities,  has  the  pro- 
mise of  the  Redeemer  pledged  for  its  perpetuation. 
Such  a  community  is  indestructible.     The  body, 

"  Vital  in  every  part, 
Cannot,  but  by  annihilating,  die." 

It  becomes  the  disciples  of  the  Saviour  to  guard  well 
the  door  of  admission  into  their  fraternity.  Upon 
their  fidelity,  in  this  respect,  depend  its  efficiency, 
prosperity,  and  safety.  An  accession  of  nominal 
Christians  may  enlarge  its  numbers,  but  cannot  aug- 
ment its  real  strength.  A  Church  that  welcomes  to 
the  privileges  of  Christ's  house,  the  unconverted, 
under  the  specious  pretext  of  increasing  the  number 
of  his  followers,  in  reality  betrays  the  citadel  to  his 
foes.  They  may  glory  in  the  multitudes  that  flock 
to  their  expanded  gates,  and  exult  in  their  brighten- 
ing prospects ;  but  the  joy  and  the  triumph  will  be 
alike  transient.  They  have  mistaken  a  device  of 
the  enemy  for  the  work  of  Grod.  They  hailed,  as 
they  thought,  an  angel  of  light ;  they  have  received 
Satan  I  admire  and  love  the  many  sincere  and 
zealous  Christians  that  are  found  in  such  Churches  ; 
but  I  fear  that  this  Trojan  horse  will  finally  prove 

their  ruin. 

6* 


66  CHTTRCH   POLITr. 

On  the  subject  of  infant  baptism,  and  what  seem 
to  me  to  be  its  legitimate  tendencies,  I  have  recorded 
my  sentiments  without  reserve,  and,  I  trust,  without 
oflFence.  I  impeach  no  man's  motives ;  nor  do  I 
question  the  piety  and  sincerity  of  those  of  my  Chris- 
tian brethren  who  believe  that  this  practice  is  sanc- 
tioned by  the  divine  command.  Many  pedobaptists 
are  among  the  lights  and  ornaments  of  the  age ; 
their  ministry  has  been  blessed  of  God  to  the  exten- 
sion of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  and  their  Churches 
present  numerous  examples  of  pure  and  unaffected 
piety.  Such  men  would  not,  knowingly,  contravene 
the  law  of  Christ.  They  would  welcome  the  obloquy 
of  the  world,  and  even  the  agonies  of  martyrdom,  in 
obedience  to  the  conmiand  of  their  Lord  and  King, 
and  rejoice  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer 
for  Christ's  sake.  It  is  impossible  not  to  admire 
and  love  men  whose  faith  and  practice  associate  them 
with  Baxter,  Leighton,  Edwards,  and  Martyn,  and 
who  breathe  their  heavenly  spirit.  While  I  think  I 
see  and  regret  their  errors,  I  would  extend  to  them 
the  same  indulgence  which  I  ask  for  my  own. 


CHAPTER    VII. 


RIGHTS     OF    A    CHURCH. 


As  it  was  manifestly  the  design  of  the  Redeemer 
that  his  Churches  should  embrace  only  such  as  pro- 
fessed his  name,  and  submitted  to  his  will  as  the  law 
of  their  life,  so,  also,  he  has  entrusted  to  them  the 
high  privileges  of  self-government  under  Him.  The 
New  Testament,  which  contains  the  charter,  consti- 
tution, and  discipline  of  these  voluntary  societies  of 
Christians,  defines  and  limits  their  rights.  What- 
ever powers  have  been  expressly  delegated  to  them, 
they  may  exercise  :  the  assumption  of  others  is  an 
unauthorized  usurpation.  The  Churches  are  bound 
to  retain  the  full  possession  of  the  rights  and  priv- 
ileges committed  to  them  by  Christ.  They  have 
as  little  authority  to  diminish,  as  to  increase  them. 
Acquiescing  in  the  wisdom  of  the  divine  plan,  and 
grateful  for  the  advantages  it  secures,  they  should 
firmly  resist  every  invasion  of  its  supremacy,  or  vio- 
lation of  its  spirit. 

The  divine  constitution  of  the  Churches  is  equal- 
ly illustrative  of  the  wisdom  and  the  condescension 
of  the  Redeemer.  In  committing  the  government 
of  his  chosen  people  to  themselves,  he  has  graciously 


68  CHURCH    POLITY. 

evinced  his  confidence  in  their  fidelity  and  love. 
And  this  confidence  has  not,  usually,  been  betrayed. 
The  enormous  evils  which,  under  the  guise  of  Chris- 
tianity, have  cursed  the  Church  and  the  world,  were 
the  legitimate  fruits  of  priestcraft,  prelacy,  and  hie- 
rarchal  domination.  The  great  body  of  the  people, 
when  left  to  themselves,  have  always  retained  their 
loyalty  and  love  to  their  invisible  king. 

1.  Every  Christian  Church  possesses  the  right  of 
discipline,  formative  and  corrective.  With  its  di- 
vine constitution  in  its  hands,  defining  the  qualifica- 
tions which  entitle  to  membership,  it  is  its  province  to 
determine  as  to  the  possession  of  those  qualifications, 
in  the  case  of  every  applicant.  Its  nature  as  a  vol- 
untary society,  involves  the  right  to  admit  and  to 
exclude.  Primitive  CTaristians  constituted  a  volun- 
tary compact;  they  gave  themselves  first  to  the 
Lord,  and  then  to  one  another ;  and  were  always 
addressed  as  those  who  had  decided  for  themselves 
on  the  solemn  subject  of  adherence  to  Christ. 

The  fundamental  principles  of  Church  discipline 
are  laid  down  in  Matt.  18  :  15:  18.  Here  the 
Saviour  enjoins  the  course  to  be  pursued  towards  an 
offending  brother,  and  designates  "  the  GhurcK''  as 
the  tribunal  of  ultimate  appeal.  What,  then,  is  the 
Church?  The  context  affords  a  satisfactory  reply. 
"  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my 
name,  there  am  I."     This  is  the  Church  to  which 


CHURCH   POLITY.  69 

Christ  alludes.  It  is  gathered  in  his  name,  and 
blessed  with  his  presence  ;  and  is,  therefore,  compe- 
tent to  decide  a  question  involving  the  interests 
of  his  cause.  The  Scriptures  recognize  no  higher 
authority.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  in  the  or- 
ganization of  this  ecclesiastical  court  for  the  trial  of 
offences,  the  officers  of  the  Church  are  not  even 
mentioned.  Their  presence  is  not  considered  indis- 
pensable. "  No  officer  is  here.  It  is  not  the 
Church  clerk,  nor  the  parties  that  have  neglected  to 
summon  him.  The  Church's  Head,  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  has  left  him  out."  * 

To  evade  the  force  of  these  remarks,  and  take 
from  the  people  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  it  is 
contended  that  the  word,  in  this  place,  refers  to  the 
officers  or  representatives  of  the  Church,  t  But, 
surely,  nothing  but  the  most  imperative  critical  ne- 
cessity would  justify  such  an  unusual  interpretation  : 
an  interpretation  which,  so  far  from  being  demanded 
by  the  exigency  of  the  case,  is  positively  excluded. 
Some  of  the  best  critics,  even  among  Episcopalians, 
sustain  this,  the  natural  and  usual  explanation  of 
the  passage.  J    The  correctness  of  this  interpretation 

*  Curtis,  Bib.  Episc.  p.  145. 

t  Smyth,  Eccl.  Catech.  1,  $  1,  6.  Dr.  Miller,  Presbyteri- 
anism,  p.  58. 

X  "  The  Church  or  particular  community  of  which  he  is  a 
member."  Bland,  Bloomfield.  The  old  English  Tersions 
of  1539  and  1541  render :  "  Tell  it  to  the  congregation." 


70  CHURCH    I'OLITY. 

is  supported  by  the  directions  -which  were  subse- 
quently given  to  the  Churches  by  the  apostles. 
Rora.  16  :  17  ;  I  Cor.  5  :  9—13 ;  II  Thess.  3  : 
6, 14, 15.  If  the  reader  will  turn  to  those  passages 
of  Scripture,  he  will  see  that  they  recognize  the  right 
of  the  Churches  to  discipline  offenders,  and  demand 
its  exercise. 

If  any  thing  further  were  necessary  to  vindicate 
the  rights  of  God's  people,  and  sustain  them  against 
the  assumptions  of  clerical  supremacy,  it  would  seem 
that  the  case  of  the  Corinthian  Church  is  unambigu- 
ous and  decisive.  On  an  occasion  which  demanded 
the  most  stringent  application  of  corrective  discipline, 
even  an  apostle  does  not  venture  to  trench  upon  the 
prerogatives  of  the  brotherhood.  He  does  not  inter- 
fere, in  virtue  of  his  apostolic  authority,  to  coerce 
them  ;  he  does  not  address  their  officers ;  but  takes 
occasion,  in  an  epistle  "  to  the  Church  of  God 
which  is  at  Corinth,"  to  suggest  a  proper  method 
of  procedure.  '  In  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  when  ye  are  gathered  together  and  my  spirit, 
with  the  power  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  deliver 
such  an  one  unto  Satan  [i.  e.  to  cast  him  out  of  the 
Church  and  send  him  back  to  the  world,  which  is 
the  kingdom  of  Satan.]  Purge  out,  therefore,  the 
old  leaven."  I  Cor.  5  :  4—7,  13.  The  faithful 
exercise  of  discipline  in  this  case,  seems  to  have  been 
blessed  by  God  to  the  restoration  of  the  Church's 


CHUKCII    POLITY.  71 

purity  and  peace.  The  incestuous  person  was  led 
to  repentance.  The  apostle  again  tenders  the  breth- 
ren hfs  advice.  "  Sufficient  to  such  a  man  is  this 
punishment,  which  was  inflicted  of  many,  [that  is 
excommunication  by  the  majority  of  the  Church]  so 
that  ye  ought,  rather,  to  forgive  him  and  comfort 
him.  Wherefore  I  beseech  you  that  ye  would  con- 
firm your  love  to  bun."  II  Cor.  2  :  6—11.  "  The 
apostle  does  not  here,"  observes  Punchard,  "  speak 
as  one  having  alone  the  key  of  the  Corinthian 
Church ;  but  contrariwise,  as  one  who  recognized 
the  power  '  of  the  many'  to  act  in  the  matter.  He 
does  not  command  the  Church  to  restore  the  peni- 
tent, but  he  '  beseeches'  them  :  much  less  does  he 
restore  the  excommunicated  person  by  the  authority 
vested  in  himself  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ."  *  The  tone  of  rebuke  with  which  the 
apostle  addressed  the  Church,  not  its  ofl&cers,  shows 
that  the  responsibility  rested  with  them,  and  that 
they  were  chargeable  with  gross  dereliction  of  duty. 
Had  this  not  been  the  case,  his  censure  would  have 
been  equally  unjust  and  unkind. t 

The  Christian  system  involves  a  provision  of 
mercy  for  the  human  race,  irrespective  of  natural 
distinctions.     It  is  the  divinely  appointed  remedy 

*  Congregationalism,  p.  65.     Haldane,  p.  346. 
t  Coleman,  Prim.   Ch.,  ch.  5,  p.  90.    Bacon,  Manual,  p. 
22.    Walker,  Church  Discipline,  }  10.  King,  ch.  7,  {  3. 


72  CHURCH   POLITY. 

for  guilt  and  depravity ;  and  as  these  are  the  univer- 
sal characteristics  of  our  fallen  race,  it  proffers  its 
redeeming  and  sanctifying  grace  to  woman  bs  well 
as  to  man.  But  it  is  no  part  of  its  design  to  dis- 
turb the  natural  relation  of  the  sexes,  or  obliterate 
the  distinctions  which  the  Creator  has  himself  ap- 
pointed. Hence,  in  the  organization  of  the  Church 
it  has  pleased  divine  wisdom  to  sanction  and  perpe- 
tuate the  subordination  of  woman  to  man,  by  exclud- 
ing her  fix)m  any  share  in  the  administration  of  its 
government.  To  woman  was  assigned  the  distin- 
guishing honor  of  giving  birth  to  the  Saviour  of 
mankind ;  and  this  fact  alone  is  sufficient  to  redeem 
Christianity  from  the  imputation  of  depreciating  or 
slighting  the  sex,  even  though  it  confers  upon  her 
no  other  prerogatives  in  the  church  than  silence, 
obedience,  and  the  personal  illustration  of  the 
graces  appropriate  to  her  high  vocation.  "  Let 
the  woman  learn  in  silence  with  all  subjection. 
But  I  suffer  not  a  woman  to  teach,  nor  to  usurp 
authority  over  the  man,  but  to  be  in  silence." — 1 
Tim2:  11-12.  This  passage,  compared  with  1  Cor. 
14  :  34,  amounts  to  a  total  exclusion  of  the  sex 
from  the  public  instruction  and  government  of  the 
Church.*  It  has  been  supposed  that  1  Cor.  11  : 
5,  conflicts  with  the  other  passage  of  the  epistle  to 
which  I  have  referred.     "We  must  account  for  this 

*  Vid.  Macknight  and  Bloomfield,  in  loc. 


CHUKCII   POLITY.  73 

apparent  contradiction,"  says  Neander,  "by  sup. 
posing  that  Paul,  in  the  second  passage,  (1  Cor. 
11:  5,)  cited  an  instance  of  what  occurred  in  the 
Corinthian  Church,  and  reserved  his  censures  for 
another  place.*  For  Mr.  Mercer's  views,  which 
accord  with  my  own,  with  respect  to  the  participa- 
tion of  females  in  the  government  of  the  Church, 
see  his  Memoirs  by  Rev.  C.  D.  Mallary,  App.  p. 
447.  The  Discipline  of  the  Charleston  Association, 
p.  132,  declares  that  "  female  members  are  exclud- 
ed from  all  share  of  rule  or  government  in  the 
Church."  Some  of  our  Churches  practise  other- 
wise. Mr.  Punchard  says:  "It  is  generally 
thought  desirable  that  the  female  members  of  a 
Church  should  be  present  at  the  transaction  of  all 
ordinary  business,  for  their  satisfaction  and  instruc- 
tion ;  but  it  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  established 
usage,  for  females  to  take  any  part  in  business 
transactions." — p.  170. t     This  unscriptural  custom 

*  Planting  of  the  Church,  p.  38.  We  have  an  example 
of  the  same  method  of  teaching  in  ch.  8.  T.  Grantham 
thus  explains  the  passage,  "  Every  woman  prayingor  proph- 
esying," &c.  He  says :  "  The  whole  Church  is  said  to  do 
a  thing,  when  it  is  actually  performed  by  one  person  or  a 
few,"  cf.  ch.  14  :  23,  24.  Hence  a  woman  is  said  to  pray, 
when  she  does  so  through  the  person  who  prays  in  th» 
Church.  Christianismus  Primitivus,  Part  II.  B.  III.  c.  7, 
§  2  — London,  1678. 

t  Benedict,  History  Baptist,  2,  p.  472.  "  There  were 
some  fanatical  sects   in  the  ancient  Church,  such  as  the 

7 


74  CHURCH    POLITY. 

originated,  probably,  in  that  spurious  delicacy  which 
induces  some  ministers,  on  baptismal  occasions,  to 
administer  the  ordinance  to  the  women  first,  a  spe- 
cies of  refinement  which  partakes  more  of  modern 
chivalry  than  primitive  Christianity.  Women  who 
appreciate  their  true  position  will  decline  the  honor. 

2.  A  Church  possesses  the  right  to  choose  its  own 
officers. 

The  evidence  of  the  Scriptures  in  support  of  this 
position  is  clear  and  conclusive.  They  record 
instances  of  the  election  of  an  apostle,  and  of  dea- 
cons, delegates,  and  elders,  each  by  a  popular  vote. 
It  need  excite  no  surprise  that  the  position  has  been 
vigorously  assailed.*  The  importance  of  the  prin- 
ciple at  stake,  justifies  both  the  attack  and  the 
defence.  If  the  clergy  have  been  invested  with  the 
sole  power  of  appointment,  they  are  right  in  eon- 
tending  for  it.  If,  on  the  contrary,  the  Head  of  the 
Church  has  deposited  this  prerogative  with  those 
whose  interests  are  most  intimately  involved  in  its 
exercise,  it  becomes  them  to  resist  clerical  encroach- 
ment, with  the  vigilance  and  firmness  of  Christ's 
freemen. 

The  first  instance  on  record  is  the  appointment 

Montanists  and  CoUyridians,  who  authorized  and  encour- 
aged -women  to  speak,  dispute,  and  teach  in  public.    But 
the  sentimont  of  the  Church  has  uniformly  been  opposed 
to  such  indecencies."    Coleman,  Christ.  Antiq.  p.  118. 
•  Taylor,  Spir.  Desp.  p.  324-333. 


CHURCH   POLlTr.  7$ 

of  an  apastle. — Acts  1  :  15-26.  If  the  apostles  had 
considered  themselves  authorized,  in  any  case,  to 
act  upon  their  own  responsibility,  it  would  have  been 
on  this  occasion,  whjn  a  vacancy  was  to  be  supplied 
in  their  own  body.  But  we  hear  nothing  of  the 
apostolic  power  of  appointment.  They  settle  at  the 
outset  the  principle  which  is  to  determine  such 
matters,  by  committing  the  choice  of  an  apostle, 
under  God,  to  the  people.  The  Church  at  Jerusa- 
lem was  vested  with  the  appointing  power.  Even 
if  this  extraordinary  case  were  an  exception,  it 
would  not  negative  the  evidence  in  favor  gf  popular 
suffrage,  which  is  derived  from  other  instances. 
These  will  now  be  examined. 

In  Acts  6  :  1-6,  the  election  of  deacons  occurs. 
The  apostles  call  together  "  the  multitude  of  the 
disciples,"  and  propose  the  matter  to  them.  The 
"  whole  multitude"  unite  in  the  choice  of  the  seven, 
and  "  set  them  before  the  apostles  for  prayer  and< 
the  imposition  of  hands."  No  satisfactory  explena- 
tion  of  this  case  can  be  given,  but  that  which  sup- 
poses that  iu  the  judgment  of  the  apostles  it  was  the 
prerogative  of  the  Chiirch  to  choose  its  own  officers.* 
The  comment  of  a  distinguished  Episcopalian  on 
this  transaction  is  worthy  of  notice.  "The  apos- 
tles, the  heads  of  the  Church,  prescribed  the  quali- 
fications for  the  ©ffice,  the  people  chose  the  pergoos 

•  Punchard,  p.  69.     Coleman,  p.  56. 


76  CHURCH    POLITY. 

who  were  thus  worthy,  and  the  apostles  ordained 
them  to  the  appointed  office.  Every  Church,  we  infer 
therefore,  is  entitled  and  bound  to  follow  this  plan  of 

conduct The  same  rules  which  were  on  the 

present  occasion  prescribed,  we  have  reason  to  sup- 
pose, were  observed  likewise  in  the  nomination  of 
bishop  and  deacons  in  the  Churches."*  Although 
he  denies  that  any  "possible  authority  can  be 
derived  from  this  portion  of  Scripture  to  sanction 
the  laity  in  taking  upon  themselves  the  choice  and 
appointment  of  their  respective  ministry,"  he  makes 
every  concession  for  which  Congregationalists  have 
usually  contended.  They  insist  upon  the  right  of 
the  laity  to  elect  their  own  officers,  but  admit  that 
the  act  of  a  presbytery  is  necessary  to  induct  them 
regularly  into  office. f 

The  position  which  I  have  taken  is  confirmed  by 
the  fact  that  even  in  the  appointnient  of  individuals 
to  less  important  duties  than  those  which  appertain 
to  official  station  in  the  Church,  the  apostles  invited 
the  counsel  and  cooperation  of  the  brethren,  and 
submitted  to  their  choice.  Acts  15  :  22-29,  (comp. 
n.  Cor.  8  :  19,)  records  an  instance  of  the  election 
of  delegates.  "Then  pleased  it  the  apostles  and 
elders  with  the  whole  Church,  [at  Jerusalem]  to 

*  Townsend,  N.  T.  Part  9,  note  30. 

t  Punchard,  p.  164.    Church  Discip.  Charleston  Assoc- 
ch.  2.  Haldane,  ch.  7. 


CnuBCU   POLITY.  77 

send  chosen  men  [having  chosen  men  from  among 
themselves  to  send  them*]  of  their  own  company  to 
Antioch. ' '  The  letter  which  they  bore  was  addressed 
in  the  name  of  "  the  apostles  and  elders  and  breth- 
ren," evincing  the  participation  of  the  Church  in 
the  Mission  to  Antioch. t  On  this  point  Neander 
remarks  :  "  It  is  evident  that  the  first  deacons,  and 
the  delegates  who  were  authorized  by  the  Church  to 
accompany  the  apostles,  were  chosen  by  the  Churches 
themselves.  From  these  examples  we  may  infer 
that  a  similar  method  was  adopted  in  the  appoint- 
ment "of  elders. "J 

The  instances  cited  above  are  amply  sufficient  to 
determine  in  whose  hands  is  deposited  the  right  to 
appoint  to  office  in  a  gospel  Church.  They  are 
clear  and  explicit.  The  proof  derived  from  them 
cannot,  therefore,  be  invalidated  by  the  citation  of 
those  equivocal  cases  upon  which  the  abettors  of 
prelacy  have  expended  so  much  of  their  strength. 
No  rule  of  interpretation  is  more  indisputable,  than 
thai  obscure  portions  of  Scripture  are  to  be  explain- 
ed by  those  which  are  perspicuous.  These  remarks 
are  applicable  to  the  transaction  referred  to  in  Acts 

•  Bloomfield. 

t  Potter  cuts  the  knot  here,  by  rejecting  "  atid"  from  the 
the  text,  and  reading  "  the  apostles  and  elders,  brethren." 
The  design  of  this  artifice  is  obvious.  Church  Government 
p.  291.  London,  1839. 

J  Pflantz  und  Leit.  der  ch.  Kirohe.  S,  703. 

7* 


78  CHUBCn  '  POLITY. 

14  :  23,  24.  "  And  when  they,  (Paul  and  Barna- 
bas) had  ordained  them  elders  in  every  Church," 
&c.  Attempts  have  been  made  to  sustain  the  doc- 
trine of  popular  rights,  by  showing  that  it  is  implied 
in  the  meaning  of  the  term  ordained.  Beza  went 
so  far  as  to  render  the  passage  ' '  when  they  had 
created  elders  by  sufl&-age  ;  "*  for  which  he  has  been 
severely  censured  by  Campbell. f  Many  modern 
writers  have  followed  Beza's  example.  J  A  recent 
advocate  of  episcopacy  contends  that  the  word  does 
not  necessarily  imply  a  popular  election. §  In  this 
I  am  compelled,  on  critical  grounds,  to  concur.  The 
term,  (which  is  composed  of  two  words  signifying 
to  lift  up  the  hand,)  did  originally  signify  to  choose 
by  suffrage,  in  accordance  with  the  custom  of  the 
Greeks ;  but  it  acquired,  in  common  use,  a  secon- 
dary signification,  and  was  employed  to  express  an 
lappointment  in  any  way.  It  is  manifestly  so  em- 
ployed by  Josephus-ll  It  does  not  appear,  there- 
fore, that  any  proof  can  be  derived  from  this  instance 
in  favor  of  a  popular  election.  With  as  little  rea- 
son can  it  be  employed  on  the  other  side.  In  a 
succinct  history,  like  Luke's,  it  is  not  to  be  expected 
that  he  should  enter  into  the  details  of  every  trans- 

♦  Quumque  ipsi  per  sufFragia  creassent  presbyteros. 

t  Gospels.    Diss.  10  Part.  4,  7. 

X  Coleman,  p.  61.    Punchard,  p.  59. 

§  Chapin,  Primitive  Church,  p.  165,  New  Haven,  1846. 

II  Antiq.  1,  13,  2,  2.  '  *"  "'**'  """"'^ '  ■ 


CHURCH    POLITY.  79 

action  which  he  records.  It  is  sufficient  that  he 
has  furnished  us  with  indubitable  instances  of  elec- 
tion to  office  by  the  suffrages  of  the  brethren.  All 
other  cases  must  be  settled  in  conformity  with  the 
principle  there  laid  down  or  exemplified,  so  that 
wherever  he  informs  us  that  the  apostles  ordained 
elders,  it  is  to  be  understood  that  it  was  with  the 
consent  and  concurrence  of  the  people.* 

On  this  point  it  has  been  well  remarked  by  Hal- 
dane  :  "That  the  pastoral  relation  between  teach- 
ers or  pastors  and  a  church  can  only  be  formed  by 
mutual  consent,  is  not  only  manifest  from  the  con- 
duct of  the  Apostles  recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  but 
is  necessarily  implied  in  the  nature  of  this  relation, 
considered  in  every  view.  It  is  not  less  absurd  to 
maintain,  that  because  we  have  no  direct  example 
of  a  church  choosing  its  own  elders,  that  this  matter 
is  left  undetermined,  than  it  would  be  to  argue,  that 
since  the  word  of  God  has  not  declared  the  marriage 
union  is  to  be  entered  into  by  mutual  choice,  it  is 
doubtful  whether  this  be  required.  Such  obvious 
principles  as  necessarily  result  from  our  nature  and 

*  "  When  Paul  gives  Titus  power  to  appoint  rulers  of 
the  Church,"  says  Neander,  *'  who  had  the  requisite  quali- 
ties, nothing  is  thereby  determined  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
election  ;  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  an  election  by 
the  Church  itself  is  absolutely  excluded."  Church  Hist., 
p.  108,  Augusti.  in  Coleman.  Antiq.  p.  131.  Neander,  in 
Coleman's  Prim.  Ch.  Introduction,  p.  10. 


80  CHURCH   POLITr. 

circumstances,  are  frequently  taken  for  granted  in 
Scripture."  * 

The  evidence  in  support  of  this  position  is  so 
clear  and  full  that  it  is  admitted  by  the  highest 
authorities  in  ecclesiastical  history. 

"  In  those  primitive  times  each  Christian  Church 
was  composed  of  the  people,  the  presiding  officers, 
and  the  assistants  or  deacons.  .  .  The  highest  au- 
thority was  in  the  people,  or  the  whole  body  of 
Christians.  .  .  The  assembled  people,  therefore, 
elected  their  own  rulers  and  teachers,  or  by  their 
authoritative  consent,  received  them,  when  nomi- 
nated to  them.  They  also,  by  their  suffrages,  re- 
jected or  confirmed  the  laws  that  were  proposed  by 
their  rulers,  in  their  assemblies  ;  they  excluded  prof- 
ligate and  lapsed  brethren,  and  restored  them ;  they 
decided  the  controversies  and  disputes  that  arose ; 
they  heard  and  determined  the  causes  of  presbyters 
and  deacons ;  in  a  word,  the  people  did  everything, 
that  is  proper  for  those  in  whom  the  supreme  potvw 
of  the  community  is  vested."  Mosheim,  Clw  Hist. 
I.  pp.  82,  143. 

"  Each  communicant,  as  member  of  the  Church, 
had  the  right  of  taking  part  in  all  the  transactions 
of  that  body,  especially  in  the  choice  of  the  clergy, 
and  in  the  discipline  of  the  Church."  Augusti,  in 
Coleman'a  Antiq.  p.  68.     See  also  chap.  5. 

*  View  Soc.  "Worship,  p.  210. 


CHURCH    POLITY.  83r 

'•'  In  ancient  times  there  was  not  any  small  Church 
which  had  not  a  suffrage  in  the  choice  of  its  pastor." 
Barrow  on  the  Pope's  Supremacy,  Supp.  6,  §  12. 

"  In  the  earliest  government  of  the  first  Christian 
society,  that  of  Jerusalem,  not  the  elders  only,  but 
the  whole  Church,  were  associated  with  the  Apos- 
tles."    Waddington,  Ch.  Hist.  p.  41. 

"  As  it  is  plain,  by  the  general  epistles,  that  all 
Church  power  was  in  the  people,  so  we  find  them, 
before  these  were  written,  exercising  this  power." 
Tindal,  Rights  of  the  Christian  Church,  chap.  4, 
§  46,  quoted  in  Hanbury's  Historical  Memorials,  I. 
p.  9.     London,  1839. 

"The  discipline  of  Christian  Churches  was  prim- 
itively popular. ' '  Harrington,  Popular  Government, 
B.  2,  chap.  5.* 

3.  It  is  the  right  and  duty  of  a  Church  to  inter- 
pret for  itself  the  laws  of  Christ,  and  to  enforce 
obedience,  on  the  part  of  its  members,  to  the  system 
of  faith  and  practice  which  it  derives  from  the  word 
of  God. 

' '  The  Socinians  hold  that,  as  the  Scriptures  are 
the  rule  of  faith,  the  essential  articles  of  faith  are 
so  few,  so  simple,  and  so  easily  gathered  out  of  clear 
explicit  passages,  that  it  is  impossible  for  any  man 

*  So  also  HoUman,  Kirchenverfassung,  S.  21,  196.  Cur- 
tis, Bib.  Episc.  p.  129.  Burton,  Church  Hist.,  ch.  12,  p. 
262.  Punchard,  Hist,  of  Congregat.  ch  10. 


9Z  CHUBCH   POLITY. 

who  has  the  exercise  of  his  reason  to  miss  them ; 
that  all  mistakes  and  diflferences  of  opinion  amongst 
those  who  search  the  Scriptures,  respect  points  which 
are  not  essential,  and  concerning  wliich  it  is  both 
vain  and  hurtful  to  try  to  establish  an  uniformity  of 
opinion  ;  that  it  is  in  all  cases  a  sufficient  declaration 
of  Christian  faith  to  say  that  we  believe  the  Scrip- 
tures ;  that  no  harm  can  arise  from  allowing  every 
man  to  interpret  the  Scriptures  as  he  pleases ;  and 
that,  as  Scripture  may  be  sufficiently  understood  for 
the  purposes  of  salvation,  without  any  foreign  as- 
sistance, all  creeds  and  confessions  of  faith,  com- 
posed and  prescribed  by  human  authority,  are  an 
encroachment  upon  the  prerogative  of  the  Supreme 
Teacher,  v^  invasion  of  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment, and  a  pernicious  attempt  to  substitute  the 
commandments  of  men  in  place  of  the  doctrine  of 
God.  According  to  this  plan,  there  is  left  to  the 
Church,  and  its  ministers,  in  their  teaching,  merely 
the  office  of  exhortation."* 

Such  is  the  substance  of  the  argument  against 
human  creeds,  against  the  right  of  a  Church  to 
maintain  its  own  views  of  divine  truth,  and  require 
a  concurrence  in  them  on  the  part  of  all  who  are 
received  to  its  fellowship.  This  position  of  the  So- 
cinians,  the  effect  of  a  violent  reaction  against  the 
extreme  doctrine  of  the  Papists,  on  the  subject  of 

*  Hill's  Divinity,  p.  754. 


CHURCH  POtlTT.  88 

tradition  and  cliurcli  power,  has  never  received  the 
sanction  of  the  great  body  of  Protestants,  who  have 
in^ted,  both  by  precept  and  practice,  upon  the  right 
and  duty  of  a  Church  to  set  forth  the  main  articles 
of  its  belief,  in  what  is  usually  called  a  confession  of 
faith.  This  has  been  the  practice  of  the  Baptists, 
both  in  their  primary  organizations,  as  churches,  and 
in  their  general  combinations  for  the  spread  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom.  The  Baptists  in  Great  Britr 
ain,  through  the  elders  and  brethren  of  upwards  of 
a  hundred  churches,  put  forth,  in  the  year  1689,  a 
confession  of  faith,  generally  known  as  the  Century 
Confession,  together  with  a  Catechism  for  the  use 
of  the  young.  These  were  adopted  by  the  Phila- 
delphia Association,  in  this  country,  in  1742,  and 
subsequently  by  the  Charleston,  Savannah  River, 
and  other  Associations.  As  Associations  are  com- 
posed of  delegates  from  the  Churches,  their  acts 
merely  expressed  the  will  of  these  bodies.  The 
General  (Arminian)  Baptists  of  Great  Britain 
published  their  confession  of  faith  in  1663.* 

*  The  Century  Confession  was  republished,  with  othar 
valuable  matter,  by  Rev.  D.  Sheppard,  Charleston,  1831.  It 
coincides  in  doctrine  with  the  Westminster  Confession,  from 
which,  indeed,  it  was  taken ;  and  this  latter  was  designed 
to  be  an  exhibition  of  the  faith  of  English  Protestantism. 
Vid.  Dr.  Smyth's  Hist.  Westm.  Assembly,  Sec.  2.  The 
copy  of  the  Baptist  Catechism  in  my  possession,  which  is 
in  fact  the  Shorter  Catechism  of  the  Assembly,  adapted  to 
oxur  own  views,  in  certain  particulars,  was  published  in 


84  CUORCH   POLITY. 

The  Century  Confession  embraces  the  following 
doctrines  :  —  The  unity  of  God ;  the  existence  of 
three  equal  persons  in  the  Godhead ;  the  just  con- 
demnation and  total  depravity  of  all  mankind  by  the 
fall  of  our  first  parents  ;  eternal,  personal,  and  uncon- 
ditional election ;  the  proper  divinity  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ;  the  necessity  of  his  atonement,  and 
its  special  relation  to  the  sins  of  the  elect  only  ; 
justification  by  the  imputed  righteousness  of  Christ 
alone ;  effectual  calling ;  perseverance  of  the  saints ; 
believers'  baptism  by  immersion  only ;  the  Lord's 
Supper,  a  privilege  peculiar  to  baptized  believers, 
regularly  admitted  to  Church  fellowship ;  the  resur- 
rection of  the  body  and  general  judgment ;  the  final 
happiness  of  the  saints,  and  misery  of  the  wicked, 
alike  interminable ;  the  obligation  of  every  intelli- 
gent creature  to  love  God  supremely,  to  believe 
what  God  says,  and  practise  what  God  commands ; 
and  the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments, as  the  complete  and  infallible  rule  of  faith 
and  practice.* 

Charleston,  S.  C,  1813.  The  Confession  of  the  General 
Baptists,  entitled,  "A  brief  Confession  or  Declaration  of 
Faith,  set  forth  by  an  Assembly  of  Messengers,  Elders,  and 
Brethren  of  the  Baptized  Churches,"  may  be  seen  in  Grant- 
ham's Christianismus  Primitivus.     London,  1678. 

*  The  above  brief  compend  of  doctrine  was  drawn  up  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Dagg.  The  following  document  presents 
another  very  excellent  digest  of  the  Century  Confession : 


CHUBCH    POLITY.  85 

The  reasons  which  are  now  assigned  for  departing 
from  this  time-honored  custom,  ai'e  not  sufficiently 
cogent  to  justify  such  a  course,  especially  as  our 
churches  are  as  much  as  ever  exposed  to  the  irrup- 
tion of  a  lax  or  false  theology.     It  has  been  observ- 

ARTICLES  OF  FAITH 
Of  the  Mississippi  River  Baptist  Association,  adopted  Octo- 
ber 2d;  1846. 

1.  "We  believe  in  one  triune  God,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost ;  the  same  in  essence,  equal  in  power  and 
glory. 

2.  We  believe  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment were  given  by  the  inspiration  of  God,  and  are  the 
only  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 

3.  We  believe  in  the  fall  of  Adam  from  original  rectitude ; 
in  the  imputation  of  his  sin  to  all  his  posterity ;  in  the  total 
depravity  of  human  nature,  and  in  man's  inability  to  restore 
himself  to  the  favor  of  God. 

4.  We  believe  that  God  has  loved  his  people  with  an 
everlasting  love ;  that  he  chose  them  in  Christ  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world ;  that  he  called  them  with  a  holy 
and  effectual  calling;  and,  being  justified  alone  by  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to  them,  they  are  kept  by 
the  power  of  God,  through  faith  unto  salvation. 

5.  We  believe  there  is  one  Mediator  between  God  and 
man — the  man  Christ  Jesus ,  who,  by  the  satisfaction  made 
to  law  and  justice,  in  becoming  an  offering  for  sin,  hath,  by 
his  most  precious  blood,  redeemed  the  elect  from  under  the 
curse  of  the  law;  that  they  might  be  holy  and  without 
blame  before  him  in  love. 

6.  We  believe  that  good  works  are  the  fruits  of  faith,  and 
follow  after  justification,  and  are  evidences  of  a  gracious 
state ;  and  that  all  believers  are  bound  to  obey  every  com- 
mand of  God  from  a  principle  of  love.  . 

8 


86  CHURCH  POLITT. 

ed  by  a  writer  who  argues  against  "  the  propriety 
of  having  any  human  selection  or  compilation,  as  a 
standard  of  faith  and  practice  "  :  —  "If  it  he  said 
that  the  compilation  thus  prepared  contains  what  is 
in  the  Bible,  the  question  comes  up,  why  then  form 

"h  "We  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  a  gen- 
eral judgment ;  that  the  happiness  of  the  righteous  and  the 
punishment  of  the  wicked  will  be  everlasting. 

GOSPEL  ORDER. 

1.  "We  believe  that  the  visible  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a 
congregation  of  faithful  persons,  who  have  given  themselves 
to  the  Lord,  and  to  one  another,  by  the  will  of  God  and 
have  covenanted  to  keep  up  a  godly  discipline,  agreeably  to 
the  gospel. 

2.  "We  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  head  of  the  Church, 
the  only  Lawgiver ;  that  the  government  is  with  the  Church. 

3.  That  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  are  Gospel  ordi- 
nances, appointed  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  are  to  be  continued 
in  his  Church  until  his  second  coming. 

4.  That  the  immersion  of  the  body  in  water,  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is 
the  only  Scriptural  way  of  Baptism,  as  taught  by  Christ 
and  his  Apostles. 

5.  That  none  but  regularly  baptized  Church  members, 
who  live  a  holy  life,  have  a  right  to  partake  of  the  Lord's 
Supper. 

6.  That  it  is  the  privilege  and  duty  of  all  believers  to 
make  a  public  profession  of  their  faith,  by  submitting  them- 
selves as  subjects  for  baptism,  and  as  members  of  the  visi- 
ble Church. 

7.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  every  regularly  organized  Church 
to  expel  from  her  communion  all  disorderly  and  immoral 

.  msmbers,  and  who  hold  doctrines  conteary  to  the  Scriptures. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  87 

the  compilation  ?  Why  not  use  the  Bible  as  the 
standard.  Can  man  present  God's  system  in  a  se- 
lection and  compilation  of  some  of  its  parts,  better 
than  God  himself  has  done  it,  as  a  whole,  in  His 
own  book  ?  Suppose  the  legislature  should  select 
portions  of  the  constitution  of  the  State,  and  com- 
pile them  into  a  book,  and  set  it  forth  as  the  stand- 
ard by  which  its  laws  should  be  made.  Would  the 
people  allow  it?"* 

This  objection  proceeds  upon  an  erroneous  con- 
ception of  the  nature  and  design  of  a  creed.  It  is 
not  a  compilation  of  some  of  the  parts  of  God's 
system,  nor  does  it  consist  of  select  portions  of  the 
Scriptures.  It  is  a  digest  of  the  whole,  presenting 
in  a  small  compass,  and  in  the  shape  of  distinct  pro- 
positions, the  great  principles  which  constitute  the 
system  of  revealed  truth.  In  the  Bible,  these  prin- 
ciples are  not  merely  exhibited,  they  are  expounded 
and  defended  at  large.  Moreover,  a  creed  is  not 
intended  to  supersede  the  word  of  God,  as  the 
standard  of  faith  and  practice  ;  for  it  derives  its  val- 
idity and  authority  solely  from  its  agreement  with 
that  word.  It  is  a  standard  or  rule  of  faith  only  in 
a  secondary  sense,  and  only  to  those  who  adopt  it  as 
the  exponent  of  their  views.  It  does  not  create,  it 
simply  expresses  the  truth ;  and  is  to  be  viewed,  not 
in  the  light  of  an  authority  but  a  testimony.      The 

•  Dr.  Johnson,  Gospel  Developed,  p  197. 


88  CHCROH   POLITi'. 

adoption  of  a  creed  on  the  part  of  a  church  indicates 
not  what  is  to  be,  but  what  is  already  believed.  It 
is  an  expression  of  its  cordial  reception  of  the  truth, 
and  ' '  sets  forth  in  order  a  declaration  of  those  things 
which  are  most  surely  believed  among"  its  mem- 
bers.* 

The  right  of  a  Church  to  frame  for  itself  a  sum- 
mary of  Christian  doctrine  is  evident  from  the  na- 
ture of  its  organization.  If  "  two  cannot  walk 
together  except  they  be  agreed,"  much  less  can 
professors  of  Christianity  constitute  a  harmonious 
and  efi&cient  body,  unless  they  concur  in  their  views 
of  what  Christianity  is.  If  it  be  proper  for  them 
to  have  correct  views,  it^is  proper  to  express  them  ; 
and  if  it  be  proper  to  express  them  orally,  it  is 
equally  so  to  express  them  in  a  written  form. 
Again,  each  member  of  a  church  is  bound  to  bear 
his  testimony  to  the  truth.  But  with  what  show  of 
reason  can  it  be  affirmed  that  a  duty,  which  is  in- 
cumbent on  members  of  a  Church,  in  an  individual, 
is  not  obligatory  upon  them  in  a  collective  capacity  ? 

*  Luke  1:1.  A  creed  is  not  norma  norinans,  but  norma 
normata.  It  contains  the  very  kernel  and  essence  of  the 
Scriptures  —  ipsa  medulla  scripturoe.  Of  confessions  of 
faith  it  has  been  well  said  —  non  imprimunt  nobis  credenda, 
sed  exprimunt  a  nobis  credita.  Twesten,  Vorlesungen.  !• 
§  21,  S.  296.  Or,  as  Turrfetine  has  it,  they  are  norma  secun- 
daria, non  veritatis  sed,  doctrina  in  aliqua  ecclesia  receptee, 
quoniam  ex  illis  quid  cum  ecclesise  doctrina  conveniat, 
quidve  ab  ea  discrepet,  perspici  potest  et  dijudicari.  Theol. 
Elenc.  Loc.  XVIII.     Qusest.  30,  §  9. 


CHCRCII    POLITT.  89 

It  has  been  proved  that  a  Church  is  charged  with  the 
discipline  of  its  members,  in  reference  both  to  faith 
and  to  practice.  In  a  case  of  discipline,  who  is  to 
pronounce  judgment  —  the  Church,  or  the  party 
accused  ?  To  this  question  there  can  be  but  one 
reply.  The  Church,  in  the  exercise  of  its  legiti- 
mate prerogative,  is  to  decide  as  to  what  is  truth,  and 
what  constitutes  a  departure  from  the  faith.  But 
if  a  Church  possesses  this  right,  when  an  offender 
stands  arraigned  before  it,  it  must  have  possessed 
the  right  previously,  —  the  right  to  define  its  views 
of  Scriptural  truth,  and  require  its  members  to  con- 
form to  the  same.  "  It  has  been  asked,"  says  An- 
drew Fuller,  "by  persons  who  disapprove  of  all 
church  proceedings,  on  account  of  difference  in  re- 
ligious principles,  who  is  to  judge  what  is  heresy? 
We  answer,  those  who  are  to  judge  what  is  immo- 
rality, in  dealing  with  loose  characters.  To  suppose 
it  impossible  to  judge  what  heresy  is,  or  to  deny 
that  the  power  of  so  deciding  rests  in  a  Christian 
Church,  is  to  charge  the  apostolic  precept  with  im- 
pertinence." *  Again:  "If  a  Christian  society 
have  no  right  to  judge  what  is  trvih,  and  to  render 
an  agreement  with  them  in  certain  points  a  term  of 
communion,  then  neither  have  they  a  right  to  judge 
what  is  righteousness,  nor  to  render  an  agreement 

•Works,  II.  p.  468     Boston,  1833. 
8» 


90  CHURCH    POLITY. 

in  matters  of  practical  right  and  wrong  a  term  of 
communion."  * 

Such  being  the  unquestionable  right  of  a  Church, 
it  simply  remains  to  show  that  there  is  an  obvious 
propriety  and  duty  in  having  "  himian  compila- 
tions," or  summaries  of  doctrine.  "  Whether  the 
united  sentiments  of  a  Christian  society  be  ex- 
pressed in  writing  or  not,  is  immaterial,  provided, 
they  be  mutually  understood  and  avowed.  Some 
societies  have  no  written  articles  of  faith  or  disci- 
pline ;  but  with  them,  as  with  others  that  have, 
it  is  always  understood  that  there  are  certain 
principles,  a  professed  belief  of  which  is  deemed 
necessary  to  communion."  f  It  will  be  perceived 
that  the  writing  of  Articles  of  Faith  is  accidental, 
not  essential,  and  involves  no  principle  which  is  not 
implied  in  holding  them. 

In  the  decision  of  this  question,  regard  must  be 
had  to  the  dictates  of  reason  and  the  lessons  of 
experience.  Had  the  author  of  revelation  been 
pleased  to  give  us  truth,  in  naked  propositions,  ar- 
ranged with  scientific  symmetry,  in  a  regular  system, 
the  necessity  of  framing  such  a  system  for  ourselves 
would  never  have  existed.  But  he  has  not  so 
chosen ;  and  in  this  respect,  there  is  a  beautiful  har- 
mony between  nature  and  revelation,  indicating  that 

*  Works,  II.  p.  630. 

t  Fuller,  Works,  II.  p.  630. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  9J 

both  proceed  from  the  same  divine  author.  As  in 
nature  (to  select  a  single  example),  the  various 
vegetable  productions  which  beautify  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  and  adorn  the  caverns  of  the  sea,  are  not 
found  arranged  with  reference  to  their  respective 
genera  and  species,  according  to  the  classification  of 
the  botanist,  but  are  scattered  promiscuously  over 
the  globe,  soliciting  the  labor  of  science  to  classify 
them,  and  rewarding  it  by  unfolding  new  and  glori- 
ous views  of  the  wisdom,  power,  and  benevolence 
of  the  Deity,  so  the  truths  of  revelation,  the  several 
parts  of  a  beautiful  and  glorious  sy.stem,  lie  scattered 
over  the  pages  of  the  Bible,  to  be  gathered  by  the 
hand  of  pious  diligence,  and  reared  into  a  temple  to 
the  divine  glory.  This  method  subserves  the  piu*- 
poses  of  moral  probation  and  discipline ;  for  the  char- 
acter of  the  system  which  each  inquirer  derives  from 
the  Bible  depends,  in  a  great  measure,  upon  the 
moral  qualifications  with  which  he  consults  its  sacred 
pages. 

Were  the  results  of  such  inquiries  always  the 
same,  did  the  various  bodies  which  profess  our  com- 
mon religion  hold  the  same  sentiments,  specific 
Articles  of  Faith  might  be  dispensed  with ;  but  when 
it  is  remembered  that  these  bodies,  although  they 
take  their  position  upon  a  common  platform  —  the 
word  of  God  —  profess  diverse  and  even  opposite 
sentiments,  the  necessity  of  such  articles  is  evinced 


mt  CHURCH    POLITY. 

by  the  most  plain  and  cogent  considerations.  Our 
Lord  warned  his  disciples  against  false  prophets,  who 
would  come  in  sheep's  clothing,  while  inwardly  they 
were  ravening  wolves.  The  Apostles  witnessed  the 
fulfilment  of  his  predictions;  and  their  epistles 
abound  with  complaints  of  false  teachers,  who  cor- 
rupted the  word  of  God,  brought  in  damnable  here- 
sies, subverted  whole  houses,  and  wrested  the  Scrip- 
tures to  their  own  destruction.*  Against  these, 
Christians  are  exhorted  to  "contend  earnestly  for 
the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  and  to  be  on 
their  guard  against  "  the  sleight  of  men  and  cun- 
ning craftiness,  whereby  they  lie  in  wait  to  de- 
ceive." t  These  and  similar  directions  "  teach 
clearly  that  an  acknowledgment  of  the  truth  of 
Scripture  is  not  a  sufficient  security  for  soundness 
of  faith,  because  they  state  a  perversion  of  Scripture 
by  those  who  have  received  it,  as  not  only  a  possible 
case,  but  as  a  case  which  then  actually  existed ;  and 
consequently  ■  they  imply  that  it  is  lawful  for  the 
ministers  of  religion  (and  the  churches)  to  employ 
some  additional  guard  to  that  *  form  of  sound  words,' 
which  they  are  required  to  hold  fast  and  defend."  J 
These  observations  expose  the  futility  of  the  demand 

♦  Matt.  6:5.    2  Cor.  2  :  17.    2  Tim.  2  :  18.    Titus  1  :  11. 
2  Peter  3  :  3-16.    1  John  4  :  6. 
t  Eph.  4  :  13.    Heb.  13  :  7.    Tit.  1  :  9. 
t  Hill's  Divinity,  p.  766. 


CHUKCH    POLITY.  93 

which  is  sometimes  made,  that  Confessions  of  Faith 
should  be  expressed  in  the  language  of  Scripture, 
or  in  general  terms.  ' '  The  very  purpose  for  which 
they  are  composed  being  to  guard  against  error,  it 
is  plain  that  they  become  liugatory  if  they  deliver 
the  truths  of  religion  in  those  words  of  Scripture 
which  had  been  perverted,  or  in  terms  so  general  as 
to  include  both  the  error  and  the  truth."  * 

The  only  plausible  objection  which  is  urged 
against  the  use  of  human  creeds  as  the  condition  of 
Church  fellowship,  is  that  it  restricts  freedom  of  in- 
quiry, and  interferes  with  the  rights  of  conscience. 
"If,"  says  Andrew  Fuller,  "a  subscription  to 
Articles  of  Faith  were  required  without  examination, 
or  enforced  by  civil  penalties,  it  would  be  an  un- 
warrantable impositition  on  the  rights  of  conscience. 
But  if  an  explicit  agreement  in  what  may  be  deem- 
ed fundamental  principles  be  judged  essential  to 
fellowship,  this  is  only  requiring  that  a  man  appear 
to  be  a  Christian,  before  he  can  have  a  right  to  be 
treated  as  such.  Suppose  it  were  required  of  a 
Jew  or  an  infidel,  before  he  is  admitted  to  the  Lord's 
Supper  (which  either  might  be  disposed  to  solicit 
for  some  worldly  purpose),  that  he  must  previously 

*  Hill,  p.  760,  It  is  well  known  from  the  history  of  her- 
esy, that  the  use  of  Scripture  language,  in  a  sense  opposed 
to  orthodoxy,  is  one  of  the  most  common  disguises  of 
errorists ;  and  as  to  the  use  of  general  terms,  it  has  been 
the  refuge  of  heresy  in  all  ages. 


94  CHtmcn  pouty. 

become  a  believer.  Should  we  thereby  impose  Christ- 
tianity  upon  him  ?  He  might  claim  the  right  of 
private  judgment,  and  deem  such  a  requisition  in- 
compatible with  its  admission  ;  but  it  is  evident  that 
he  could  not  be  entitled  to  Christian  regard,  and 
that,  while  he  exclaimed  against  the  imposition  of 
creeds  and  systems,  he  himself  would  be  guilty  of  an 
imposition  of  the  grossest  kind,  utterly  inconsistent 
with  the  rights  of  voluntary  and  social  compact,  as 
well  as  of  Christian  liberty."  * 

The  use  of  a  confession  of  faith,  so  far  from  dis- 
paraging the  authority  of  the  Bible,  as  a  standard, 
really  exalts  it.  It  insists  upon  a  correct  interpretation 
of  the  word  of  God,  a  cordial  reception  of  its  truths, 
and  an  entire  submission  to  its  directions.  A  Church", 
rearing  this  rampart  around  the  sacred  volume,  guard- 
ing every  entrance  with  jealous  vigilance,  and  care- 
fully questioning  every  comer  who  essays  to  gain  ad- 

«  Works,  II.  p.  629-630.  "  The  persons  most  ready  to 
bring  forward  this  objection  are  those  whose  system  ex- 
cludes some  of  the  doctrines  which  the  great  body  of  Pro- 
testants agree  in  receiving.  In  their  manner  of  stating 
the  objection,  they  are  careful  to  conceal  their  disbelief  of 
particular  doctrines,  under  a  zeal  for  liberty  of  conscience, 
and  the  right  of  private  judgment ;  and  instead  of  affirming 
that  a  confession  declares  what  is  false,  they  choose  rather 
to  say,  that  by  the  particularity  with  which  it  states  the 
received  opinion,  it  abridges  and  invades  that  freedom  in 
every  thing  that  concerns  religion,  which  Christians  derive 
from  the  spirit  of  the  gospel."    Hill,  Divinity,  p.  760. 


CBCBCH   POLIiy.  95 

mission  under  false  colors  and  witli  "feigned  words," 
protects  the  diviae  repository  of  truth  against  the  in- 
sidious artifices  of  those  who  would  corrupt  it  or  han- 
dle it  deceitfully.  K  they  choose  to  wHest  the  Scrip- 
tures to  their  own  destruction,  the  responsibiUty 
rests  with  themselves.  The  Church  will  never  fra- 
ternize with  them  in  their  unholy  designs,  nor  suffer 
them  to  pollute  her  sacred  enclosure.  Thus  she  fulfils 
her  high  mission  as  the  "  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
truth."  As  pillars,  in  ancient  time,  bore  the  writ- 
ten edicts  of  the  potentates  of  the  earth,  "  seen  and 
read  of  all  men,"  so  the  Church  stands  forth,  with 
the  great  principles  of  divine  truth  graven  upon  her 
front, — the  living,  faithful  witness  of  her  invisible 
king. 

Such  are  some  of  the  reasons  which  justify  the 
Churches  in  the  use  of  definite  articles  of  faith.  The 
custom  is  thought  by  some  inquirers  into  the  usages 
of  antiquity,  to  have  been  apostolical,  or,  at  least, 
sanctioned  by  apostolic  precedent.  It  is  supposed 
that  the  sermon  on  the  mount,  which  presents  a  di- 
gested system  of  Christian  ethics,  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
the  use  of  the  baptismal  formula,  and  the  allusion  to 
a  "form  of  sound  words," — all  point  to  such  an 
observance.  But  however  this  may  be,  we  possess 
incontestible  evidence  that,  soon  after  the  age  of  the 
apostles,  when  the  rise  of  heresies  began  to  threaten 
the  peace  and  purity  of  the  Churches,  it  was  deemed 


96  CHuncn  polity. 

necessary  to  embrnee  the  leading  facts  and  princi- 
ples of  the  Gospel  in  a  compendious  system,  and 
present  them,  for  concurrence  or  subscription,  to 
candidates  for  baptism  and  church  fellowship ;  * 
and  in  all  succeeding  times,  the  supporters  of  truth 
against  error  have  deemed  it  their  sacred  duty  to 
bear  their  explicit  and  unequivocal  testimony,  in 
terms  which  neither  friends  nor  enemies  could  mis- 
interpret ;  some  of  them,  in  circumstances  in  which 
a  mere  general  assent  to  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures, 
would  have  saved  them  from  the  appalling  agonies 
of  martyrdom,  t 

The  propriety  of  the  course  which  has  been  adopt- 
ed by  Christian  Churches,  with  reference  to  a  formal 
enunciation  of  their  distinctive  principles,  is  illus- 
trated and  confirmed  by  analagous  procedures  in 

*  Coleman's  Christian  Antiq.  p.  253.  "  From  the  earliest 
organization  of  the  Church,  some  confession  and  rule  of 
faith  must  evidently  have  been  necessary.  This  rule  of 
faith  must  have  been  derived  from  the  teaching,  either  oral 
or  written,  of  the  apostles ;  and  may  have  been  earlier  than 
the  writings  of  the  New  Testament  in  their  present  form. 
Luke  1 :  1 — 4.  Gal.  1 :  11.  As  the  preaching  of  the  Apos- 
tles preceded  their  written  instructions,  so  an  oral  confes- 
sion may  have  preceded  a  written  one,  comprising  an  epit- 
ome of  the  gospel.  From  such  a  source  may  have  sprung 
the  great  variety  of  forms  which  were  known  previous  to 
the  council  of  Nice." 

t  Mosheim,  Ch.  Hist.  I.  chap.  3.  Gieseler,  I.  §  49.  Mtln- 
scher  (Ed.  Von  Coin),  I.  }  12.  Barrow's  Works  (Am.  Ed.), 
11.  p.  569. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  9/ 

other  bodies.  Thus  the  government  of  the  United 
States  is  administered,  according  to  the  provisions  of 
a  written  constitution.  Under  this  constitution  dif- 
ferent parties  have  arisen,  sustaining  the  same  rela- 
tion to  it  which  the  various  denominations  of  Chris- 
tians sustain  to  the  Scriptures.  It  is  not  deemed 
sufficient  by  any  one  of  these  parties,  to  require,  on 
the  part  of  its  adherents,  a  simple  subscription  to 
the  constitution ;  for  this  is  the  common  basis  of 
them  all.  Each  party  sets  forth  its  own  construc- 
tion of  the  constitution,  and  states  distinctly  the 
principles  upon  which  it  is  based.  If  an  individual 
were  to  suffer  himself  to  be  chosen  as  a  representa- 
tive of  one  of  these  parties,  and  were  then  to  betray 
their  confidence,  by  giving  his  support  to  the  meas- 
ures of  another,  in  vain  would  he  plead  in  justifica- 
tion of  his  treachery,  that  the  constitution  was  his 
political  confession  of  faith ;  all  parties  alike  would 
denounce  him  as  a  deceiver. 


CHAPTEK   VIII. 

INDEPENDENCE   OF   THE   CHURCHES. 

It  has  already  been  proved,  that,  accordmg  to 
the  Scriptvires,  each  Church  of  Christ  is  charged 
with  the  reception  and  discipline  of  its  members, 
the  election  of  its  officers,  and  the  general  manage- 
ment of  its  affairs.  This  being  the  case,  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Churches  follows  as  a  necessary 
consequenoe.  The  simplicity  of  this  system  of 
organization  may  not  comport  with  the  suggestions 
of  human  expediency.  A  more  close  and  extensive 
combination,  which  should  consolidate  the  Churches, 
fuse  them  into  a  compact  and  homogeneous  mass, 
and  centralize  power  in  the  hands  of  a  select  body, 
or  of  an  individual,  as  the  representative  of  sove- 
reignty, may  be  preferred  as  best  suited  to  develope 
and  combine  the  energies  of  its  component  parts. 
But  if  this  be  the  system  which  Divine  wisdom  has 
chosen,  it  is  doubtless  the  wisest  and  the  best. 
Experience  has  proved  it  to  be  so.  It  agrees  best 
with  the  free  spirit  of  Christianity,  and  is  best 
adapted  to  the  development  of  Christian  life  in  the 
individual.  It  combines  greater  advantages,  and  is 
embarrassed  with  fewer  difficulties,  than  any  system 
which  human  ingenuity,  pride,  or  the  lust  of  power 
has  ever  devised. 


CHUECH  POLrri.  99 

It  has  been  supposed  that  the  transaction  record- 
ed in  Acts  15,  furnishes  a  precedent  for  a  higher 
tribunal  than  a  single  independent  Church.  Writ- 
ers on  ecclesiastical  polity  have  detected  in  the 
meeting  at  Jerusalem,  a  court  of  review,  a  synod  or 
a  general  council,  according  to  the  bias  with  which 
they  have,  respectively,  contemplated  it.  There  is 
no  just  foundation  for  any  of  these  suppositions. 
The  case  was  altogether  an  extraordinary  one.  It 
sprung  out  of  an  exigency  which  could  only  occur 
in  the  incipient  state  of  Christianity ;  and  cannot, 
therefore,  be  pleaded  in  justification  of  subsequent 
assemblies,  which  undertake  to  legislate  for  the 
Churches,  review  their  acts,  and  reverse  their  decis- 
ions. "  In  the  above  case  there  was  no  council  of 
Churches  held  by  their  delegates.  One  Church 
sends  messengers  to  ask  information  on  a  given  sub- 
ject. The  answer  is  satisfactorily  returned,  and  the 
instructions  of  the  Holy  Ghost  are  added  concerning 
points  of  duty,  in  which  all  the  Churches  were  inter- 
ested. What  assemblage  of  men,  tminspired  of 
God,  can  now  say,  "  The  Holy  Ghost  puts  his  seal 
to  the  decree  which  we  send  you,  and  you  must  keep 
it?"  The  above  case  then  furnishes  neither  ex- 
ample nor  authority  for  authoritative  councils  of 
Churches  by  their  delegates."* 

•  Dr.  W.  B.  Johnson.    A  Church  of  Christ,  a  Sermon, 
p.  26.   Ripley  and  Barnes  in  loc.    Curtis,  Bib.  Episc.  p  131. 


100  CnUKOH   POUTT. 

The  independence  of  the  Churches  is  attested  by 
the  highest  authorities  in  Church  history,  as  well  as 
by  many  other  distinguished  writers. 

"  All  the  Churches  in  those  primitive  times  were 
independent  bodies ;  or  none  of  them  subject  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  any  other.  For,  though  the  Churches 
which  were  founded  by  the  apostles  themselves,  fre- 
quently had  the  honor  shown  them,  to  be  consulted 
in  difficult  and  doubtful  eases,  yet  they  had  no 
judicial  authority,  no  control,  no  power  of  giving 
laws.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  as  clear  as  the  noon- 
day, that  all  Christian  Churches  had  equal  rights, 
and  were  in  all  respects  on  a  footing  of  equality. 
Nor  does  there  appear  in  this  first  century,  any 
vestige  of  that  consociation  of  the  Churches  of  the 
same  province,  which  gave  rise  to  ecclesiastical 
councils  and  to  metropolitans.  Rather,  as  is  mani- 
fest, it  was  not  till  the  second  century  that  the 
custom  of  holding  ecclesiastical  councils  began,  first 
in  Greece,  and  thence  extended  into  other  prov- 
inces." Mosheim,  I.  pp.  86,  142.  cf  Gieseler,  I. 
p.  103.     King,  ch.  8. 

"  Every  Church  had  its  own  spiritual  head  .or 
bishop,  and  was  independent  of  every  other  Church 
with  respect  to  its  own  internal  regulations."  Bur- 
ton, Hist.  Ch.  p.  262,  New  York,  1889.* 

*  Dr.  Burton   is  an  Episcopalian.      How    different    the 
language  of  another  writer  of  the  same  Church,  who  has 


CHTJRCH    POLITY.  -  101 

"  Every  society  of  Christians  formed  within  itself 
a  separate  and  independent  republic."  Gibbon,  1, 
p.  273. 

"It  is  certain  that  during  the  first  century  from 
the  death  of  Christ,  the  several  Churches  which  had 
been  instituted  by  the  apostles,  or  their  successors, 
were  entirely  independent  of  each  other."  Tytler, 
Universal  History,  2,  p.  4.  Guizot,  Hist.  Civiliza- 
tion, p.  52. 

Some  objections  have  been  urged  against  the 
independent  polity,  which  demand  at  least  a  passing 
notice.     These  are  :  — 

1.  It  destroys  the  visible  unity  of  the  Church.* 
It  has  been  proved,  in  a  former  chapter  of  this 
work,  that  the  visible  Church  Catholic  is  a  figment 
of  the  imagination,  destitute  of  Scriptural  authority. 
If  this  be  the  case,  the  objection  possesses  no 
weight.  The  only  kind  of  ecclesiastical  unity  con- 
templated in  the  Scriptures  can  be  as  well  secured 
among  independent  Churches  as  any  others.  The 
principle  of  Christian  union  is  the  law  of  love. 
This  divine  element  pervades  the  bosoms  of  all 
true  followers  of  the  Redeemer,  and  unites  the 

ventured  to  aa(tert  that  "  the  system  of  Independency  is 
totally  without  the  remotest  support  from  either  Scripture 
or  Antiquity."    Townsend,  N.  T.  Part  4,  note  2. 

♦  Dick,  Theol.  2,  p.  491.  Hill,  p.  695.  Smyth,  Cate- 
chism, p.  103,  where,  also,  may  be  found  the  other  objec- 
tions which  are  here  examined. 

9* 


102  CHURCH   POLITY. 

various  societies,  into  which  they  are  divided,  in  one 
affectionate  sisterhood.  No  other  decrees  are  neces- 
sary to  perpetuate  this  union,  except  the  solemn 
command  of  their  divine  Master ;  and  all  attempts 
to  effect  the  result  by  authoritative  decisions  of 
councils  or  coercive  measures  will  prove  abortive,  or 
at  best  secure  only  a  constrained  and  deceptive  uni- 
formity, the  uniformity,  not  of  faith  and  love,  but 
of  hypocrisy  or  servitude.  Ecclesiastical  systems, 
the  growth  of  worldly  policy,  and  stamped  with  the 
wisdom  of  human  expediency,  may  dove-tail  the 
Churches  together,  so  as  to  present  a  vast  and  im- 
posing visible  confederation :  the  power  of  divine 
love  alone  can  weld  them  in  spiritual  unity,  and 
make  them  one  family  of  Christ. 

2.  Another  objection  urged  against  our  Church 
polity,  is  that  it  places  too  much  power  in  the  hands 
of  the  people.  It  is  alledged  that  many  Christian 
Churches  are  incapable  of  self-government;  and 
one  writer  particularly  deprecates,  with  pious  fervor, 
the  idea  of  ' '  referring  every  decision  to  numbers 
and  suffrages,  and  placing  all  that  is  good,  and 
venerable,  and  influential  among  the  members  them- 
selves at  the  feet  of  a  democracy. ^^*  It  is  readily 
admitted  that  the  Bible  system  of  Church  govem- 

*  E.  "Watson,  Institutes  part  4,  chap  1.  Mr.  "Wesley 
said:  "We  are  no  republicans ;"  and  his  followers  seem 
content  to  repeat  the  confession. 


CnUKCH  POLITY.  103 

ments  is  suited  only  to  a  Bible  constituency.*  If 
churches  are  composed  only  of  such  as  give  credible 
evidence  of  having  been  tauglit  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  they  may  safely  be  entrusted  with  the  manage- 
ment of  their  own  interests.  But  when  the  door  of 
admission  is  thrown  wide  open,  and  merely  nominal 
professors  are  introduced,  it  becomes  necessary  to  co- 
erce and  restrain  them  by  powers  higher  than  them- 
selves ;  to  curb  them  by  courts  and  councils,  or 
awe  them  by  a  hieraichy.  It  will  generally  be 
found  that  in  proportion  to  the  facility  of  admission 
into  any  Church  is  the  stringency  of  its  government. 
The  Baptists  recognize  only  believers  as  the  constit- 
uents of  a  gospel  Church  and  commit  its  govern- 
ment to  its  members.  The  Presbyterians,  who, 
although  they  consider  infants  as  "in  some  sort" 
members  of  the  Church,  yet  exclude  all  but  believ- 
ers from  full  membership,  are  essentially  republican 
in  their  form  of  government.  They  elect  their  own 
rulers.  The  Methodists  receive  applicants  to  their 
communion  without  the  requisition  of  personal  piety  ; 
and  then  excluding  them  from  all  participation  in 
the  government  of  the  Church,  rule  them  by  clerical 
conferences.  The  Roman  CathoUcs  would  cheer- 
fully admit  to  the  Church,  by  baptism,  the  whole 
human  family,  and  then  proceed  to  erect  over  them 

•  Curtis,  Bib.  Episc,  Lee.  6. 


104  CHUECH    POLITY. 

a  ghostly  tyranny,  reducing  them  to  due  subjectioi: 
by  the  rack,"  the  stake,  purgatory,  and  hell. 

3.  It  is  further  alledged  against  the  system  of 
Independency,  that  it  unfits  the  Church  to  perform, 
in  her  distinctive  »$iaracter,  and  through  her  own 
organization,  her  appropriate  duty  of  extending  the 
kingdom  of  the  Redeemer  throughout  the  world. 
To  this  it  is  sufficient  to  reply  by  an  appeal  to  facts. 
The  Churches  of  the  New  Testament  were,  as  has 
been  proved,  constituted  on  this  principle,  and  yet 
within  a  century  after  the  death  of  Christ,  they  had 
pushed  the  conquests  of  his  cross  to  the  remotest 
limits  of  the  civilized  world.  It  is  an  indubitable 
fact  that,  in  modem  times,  Churches  founded  on 
the  principles  of  Congregationalism,  gave  the  first 
impulse  to  the  missionary  enterprise  ;  and  they  are, 
at  the  present  moment,  acting  a  conspicuous  part  in 
all  the  great  religious  movements  of  the  age.  Their 
sovereignty,  as  independent  bodies,  presents  no  ob- 
stacle to  their  cooperation  in  measures  of  common 
utility,  in  education,  Bible  and  Tract  distribution, 
and  in  general  movements  for  the  spread  of  the  Re- 
deemer's kingdom. 


■■■■Jl 


CHAPTER  IX. 


OFFICERS    OP    A    CHURCH. 


The  permanent  officers  of  a  Church  are  of  two 
kinds :  elders  (who  are  also  called  pastors,  teachers, 
ministers,  overseers  or  bishops)  and  deacons. 

The  Scriptures  furnish  us  with  an  enumeration  of 
all  the  gifts  which  were  bestowed  upon  the  apostolic 
churches.  They  mention  apostles,  prophets,  evan- 
gelists, pastors,  and  teachers ;  deacons,  miracles, 
gifts  of  healing,  helps,  governments,  and  diversities 
of  tongues.*  It  is  evident  that  many  of  these  must 
have  been  extraordinary,  designed  to  meet  the 
peculiar  exigences  of  Christianity  in  its  incipient 
efforts  for  diffusion.  That  miraculous  and  prophetic 
gifts  have  ceased  is  unquestionable.  So  have  others. 
It  was  the  design  of  Christ  to  provide  for  only  two 
penuanent  officers  in  the  Churches,  bishops  and 
deacons. 

It  has  been  strenuously  contended  that  the  apos- 
tolic office  is  permanent,  and  that  it  is  continued  in 
a  succession  of  Bishops  who  profess  a  superiority 
in  ministerial  power  and  rights  over  the  elders  and 
the  Churches.     The  weakness  of  this  assumption 

*  1  Cor.  12 :  28 ;  Eph.  4 :  11.  Neander,  Apos.  Church,  ch.  5. 


106  CmjRCH    POLITT. 

can  be  easily  exposed.  The  qualifications  of  an 
apostle  were  such  as  none  of  their  pretended  suc- 
cessors can  be  shown  to  have  possessed. 

1.  The  apostles  were  witnesses  of  Christ.  To 
qualify  them  for  this  important  oflBce,  our  blessed 
Lord  selected  the  twelve  as  his  personal  attend- 
ants, communicated  to  them  his  plans  and  purposes, 
and  made  them  the  witnesses  of  his  crucifixion,  res- 
urrection and  ascension.  These  are  the  great  facts 
upon  which  the  Christian  religion  is  founded.  It 
was  indispensable,  therefore,  that  they  should  be 
sustained  by  the  most  cleaf  and  unimpeachable 
testimony.  To  bear  this  testimony,  and  thus  lay 
the  foundation  of  the  glorious  edifice  of  the  Christian 
faith,  was  the  primary  and  peculfer  design  of  the 
apostolic  office.  "  He  ordained  twelve,  that  they 
should  be  with  him,  and  that  he  might  send  them 
forth  to  preach,  and  to  have  power  to  heal  sicknesses 
and  to  cast  out  devils:"  —  Mark  3:  14;  Matt. 
10 :  5.  The  same  view  is  presented  by  Christ, 
after  bis  resurrection.  In  his  last  interview  with 
his  disciples,  he  thus  addressed  them  :  "  Thus  it  is 
written,  and  thus  it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to 
rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day  ;  and  that  repent- 
ance and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in 
his  name  among  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem. 
And  ye  are  witnesses  of  these  things."  Luke  24  : 
45  —  48.     So  the  Saviour  spoke,  and  so  the  apos- 


CHURCH    POLITY.  107 

ties  understood  hira.  This  is  manifest  from  the 
words  of  Peter,  when  an  apostle  was  about  to  be 
selected  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  defec- 
tion of  Judas.  "  Of  these  men  which  have  com- 
panied  with  us  all  the  time  that  the  Lord  Jesus  went 
in  and  out  among  us,  beginning  from  the  baptism 
of  John,  unto  that  same  day  that  he  was  taken  up 
from  us,  must  one  be  ordained  to  be  a  witness  with 
us,  of  his  resurrection."  —  Acts  1  :  21,  22.  That 
this  was  the  distinctive  character  of  the  office,  is 
further  evinced  by  the  account  which  is  given  of  the 
labors  of  the  apostles.  "  This  Jesus  hath  God 
raised  up,  whereof  we  are  witnesses.''  Acts  2  : 
32;  5:  32;  10:  39—41,  etc. 

The  represeiltation  which  has  been  given  lof  the 
apostolic  office  derives  strong  confirmation  from  the 
case  of  the  apostle  Paul.  He  was  called  to  the 
apostleship  after  the  ascension  of  Christ.  He  had 
not  had,  therefore,  that  opportunity  for  personal 
observation  which  was  necessary  to  qualify  him  to 
be  a  witness  of  Christ.  How  was  this  defect  sup- 
plied ?  By  supernatural  revelation.  Christ  appeared 
to  him  on  his  way  to  Damascus,  and  transformed  a 
bitter  persecutor  into  a  noble  and  unflinching  apos- 
tle of  his  cause.  We  have  three  distinct  accounts 
o£  his  conversion  and  of  his  appointment  to  the 
apostolate.  In  each  of  these  the  design  of  the  of- 
fice is  stated.      "  The  God  of  our  fathers  hath 


108  CHURCH   POLITY. 

chosen  thee,"  said  Ananias  to  the  future  apostle  of 
the  Gentiles,  "that  thou  shouldst  know  his  will, 
and  see  that  Just  One,  and  shouldst  fiear  the  voice 
of  his  movth;  for  thou  shalt  be  his  witness  unto 
all  men  of  what  thou  hast  seen  and  heard."  —  Acts 
22  :  14,  15.  "I  have  appeared  unto  thee  for  this 
purpose,  to  make  thee  a  minister  and  a  tcitness.'^  — 
Acts  26  :  16.  This  latter  was  the  language  of 
Christ  to  Paul  in  the  original  commission.  That  it 
was  understood  by  the  apostle  himself  in  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  has  just  been  represented,  is  manifest 
from  his  own  subsequent  appeal  in  1  Cor.  9:2.  In 
reply  to  those  who  challenged  his  claims  to  this 
high  office,  he  asks  most  triumphantly:  "  Have  I 
not  seen  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  ?  "  Nothing  can  be 
more  clear  than  that  to  have  seen  Jesus  Christ  was 
an  indispensable  qualification  for  the  office  of  the 
apostleship,  and  that  its  main  design  was  to  bear 
witness  to  the  cardinal  facts  of  Christianity.* 

2.  The  apostles  were  distinguished  by  special 
prerogatives,  which  descended  to  none  after  them  ; 
receiving  their  mission  directly  from  Christ.     The 

«  Barnes,  Episc.  Exam.  p.  25.  Curtis,  Bib.  Episc.  Lee. 
2.  Punchard,  p.  71.  Smyth,  Pres.  and  Prel.  chap.  4.  Hal- 
dane,  chap.  7.  Bacon,  Manual,  p.  32.  Campbell,  Eccl. 
Hist.  Lee.  5.  Even  Townsend,  an  Episcopalian,  says,  that 
to  be  made  "  a  witness  of  the  resurrection  with  us "  is 
equivalent  to  "  being  raised  to  the  apostolate."  N.  T.  part 
9,  note  2. 


CHURCH    POLITY.  109 

power  of  conferring  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  the 
Spirit,  and  the  knowledge,  by  inspiration,  of  the 
whole  doctrine  of  Christ. 

3.  They  were  universal  bishops ;  the  whole  of 
Christendom  was  their  charge,  and  the  whole  earth 
their  diocese. 

4.  We  have  full  proof  that  no  idea  of  succes- 
sion to  the  office  was  entertained  in  their  own  age, 
or  in  the  times  immediately  succeeding ;  for  no  one, 
on  the  death  of  one  apostle,  was  ever  substituted  in 
his  place ;  and  when  the  original  college  became 
extinct,  the  title  also  became  extinct.  The  apostles 
were  the  ambassadors  of  Christ.  Having  delivered 
their  message,  and  committed  it  to  writing  for  the 
future  use  of  the  churches,  their  office  became  ob- 
solete at  their  decease,  and  it  was  unnecessary  that 
successors  should  be  appointed.* 

A  fatal  objection  to  the  notion  of  apostolic  suc- 
cession, and  the  consequences  derived  from  it,  con- 
sists in  the  fact,  that  no  such  succession  can  be 
established  by  historical  evidence.  The  links  of 
the  chain  are  broken,  and  lost  beyond  the  possibility 
of  recovery.  The  transmission  of  apostolic  grace 
is  no  longer  practicable ;  for  the  wires  of  the  mystic 
telegraph  are  disconnected,  tangled,  and,  along  a 
portion  of  the  pretended  line,  nowhere  to  be  found. 

The  vanity  of  the  episcopal  claim  to  an  uninter- 

•Eph.  2  :  20.    Rev.  21 :  14. 
10 


110  CHUBOH   POLITY. 

rupted  apostolical  succession  has  been  happily  ex- 
posed by  Archbishop  Whately. 

"  There  is  not  a  minister  in  all  Christendom,  who 
is  able  to  trace  up,  with  any  approach  to  certainty, 
his  own  spiritual  pedigree.  The  sacramental  virtue 
(for  such  it  is  that  is  implied,  whether  the  term  be 
used  or  not  in  the  principle  I  have  been  speaking 
of)  dependent  on  the  imposition  of  hands,  with  a 
due  observance  of  apostolical  usages,  by  a  bishop,  him- 
self duly  consecrated,  after  having  been  in  like  man- 
ner baptized  into  the  church,  and  ordained  deacon 
and  priest ;  this  sacramental  virtue,  if  a  single  link 
of  the  chain  be  faulty,  must,  on  the  above  princi- 
ples, be  utterly  nullified  forever  after,  in  respect  of 
all  the  links  that  hang  on  that  one.  For  if  a  bishop 
has  not  been  duly  consecrated,  or  had  not  been, 
previously,  rightly  ordained,  his  ordinations  are 
null,  and  so  are  the  ministrations  of  those  ordained 
by  him,  and  their  ordination  of  others  (supposing 
any  of  the  persons  ordained  by  him  to  attain  to  the 
episcopal  office) ;  and  so  on,  without  end.  The 
poisonous  taint  of  informality,  if  it  once  creep  in 
undetected,  will  spread  the  infection  of  nullity  to  an 
indefinite  and  irremediable  extent. 

"  And  who  can  undertake  to  pronounce,  that 
during  that  long  period,  usually  designated  as  the 
Dark  Ages,  no  such  taint  ever  was  introduced  ?  Ir- 
regularities could  not  have  been  wholly  excluded, 


CHURCH   POLITY.  Ill 

"without  a  perpetual  miracle ;  and  that  no  such  mir- 
aculous interference  existed,  we  have  even  historical 
proof.  Amidst  the  numerous  corruptions  of  doctrine 
and  of  practice,  and  gross  superstitions  that  crept 
in  during  those  ages,  we  find  recorded  descriptions, 
not  only  of  the  profound  ignorance  and  profligacy 
of  life  of  many  of  the  clergy,  but  also  of  the  gross- 
est irregularity  in  respect  of  discipline  and  form. 
We  read  of  bishops,  consecrated  when  mere  chil- 
dren ;  of  men  oflSciating  who  barely  knew  their 
letters ;  of  prelates  expelled,  and  others  put  in  their 
places  by  violence  ;  of  illiterate  and  profligate  lay- 
men, and  habitual  drunkards,  admitted  to  holy 
orders;  and,  in  short,  of  the  prevalence  of  every 
kind  of  disorder,  and  reckless  disregard  of  the 
decency  which  the  apostle  enjoins.  It  is  inconceiv- 
able, that  any  one,  even  moderately  acquainted  with 
history,  can  feel  a  certainty,  or  any  approach  to 
certainty,  that,  amidst  all  confusion  and  corruption, 
every  requisite  form  was,  in  every  instance,  strictly 
adhered  to  by  men,  many  of  them  openly  profane 
and  secular,  unrestrained  by  public  opinion,  through 
the  gross  ignorance  of  the  population  among  which 
they  lived ;  and  that  no  one,  not  duly  consecrated 
or  ordained,  was  admitted  to  sacred  oflSces."  * 
The  attempt  to  prove  that  an  order  existed  in 

♦  Kingdom  of  Christ,  p.  128.  The  argument  is  stated  with 
great  force,  by  Chillingworth.  Chap.  II.  Answer,  §§  64 — 68. 


112  CHURCH   POLITY. 

the  ministry  of  the  primitive  churches  as  successors 
to  the  apostles,  and  therefore  superior  to  elders, 
proves  a  failure.  We  may  therefore  consider  it  as 
comprising  only  elders  and  deacons.  These  are  all 
that  the  Head  of  the  Church  has  embraced  in  its 
ordinary  and  permanent  organization.  Even  these 
are  not  indispensable.  The  Church  at  Jerusalem 
was  in  existence  some  time  before  it  was  found  nec- 
essary to  institute  the  order  of  deacons  ;  and  many 
other  churches  seem  to  have  had  no  officers  of  either 
description.  Paul  and  Barnabas,  in  their  first  mis- 
sionary excursion  from  Antioch,  passed  through 
Pamphylia,  Pisidia,  and  Lycaonia,  and  planted 
churches.  After  the  lapse  of  about  four  years, 
they  returned  through  those  regions,  •'  confirming 
the  souls  of  the  disciples,"  and  "  ordaining  them 
elders  in  every  Church."  Up  to  this  period,  there- 
fore, there  had  been  no  elders  in  the  churches.  The 
same  is  true  of  other  churches.  It  would  seem, 
therefore,  that  "the  officers  of  a  church  are  not 
essential  to  its  being,  though  they  are  to  its  well 
being."* 

The  apostolic  churches  seem,  in  general,  to  have 
had  a  plurality  of  elders  as  well  as  deacons.  The 
apostle  addressed  his  epistle  to  the  Church  at  Phil- 
ippi  "with  the  bishops  and  deacons;"    sent  for 

♦Bacon,  Church  Manual,  p.  35     Discipline,  Charleston 
Association,  chap.  2.    "Walker,  C/hurch  Discipline,  §  2. 


CITXJRCH   POLITY.  113 

"  the  elders  of  the  Church  at  Ephesus ;  "  and.  Paul 
and  Barnabas  as  well  as  Titus  "  ordained  elders  " 
in  the  churches  of  Asia  Minor  and  Crete.  It  seems, 
therefore,  a  fair  inference  that  this  was  their  usual 
practice.  Of  the  reason  of  it  we  are  not  informed  ; 
but  the  existence  of  the  practice  seems  unquestiona- 
ble. Perhaps  the  explanation  given  by  Elsley  and 
others  is  the  most  satisfactory.  "  In  that  age,"  he 
remarks,  "  Christians  had  no  public  edifices,  but 
held  their  meetings  in  private  houses.  When  they 
were  numerous,  these  meetings,  and  the  inspectors 
or  bishops  who  presided  over  them,  were  multiplied 
in  proportion."*  The  number  of  oflBcers,  whether 
elders  or  deacons,  necessary  to  the  completeness  of 
a  church,  is  not  determined  in  Scripture.  This 
must  be  decided  by  the  circumstances  of  each  case, 
of  which  the  party  interested  is  the  most  competent 
judge. 

A  distinction  has  sometimes  been  made  between 
teaching  and  ruling  elders.     This  was  formerly  the 

♦Annotation  on  the  Gospels  and  Acts,  p.  562  In  proof  of 
a  plurality  of  elders  see  Haldane,  eh.  7,  p.  210 — 224. — Smyth, 
Name,  Nature,  &c.,  of  Ruling  Elders,  p.'38.  Coleman  Prim- 
itive Chxirch,  chap.  6.  Bacon,  Manual,  p.  39. — Wood's  Lec- 
tures on  Church  Government,  p.  50.  Gieseler,  Church 
History,  1,  29.  Neander,  Apostolic  Chvirch,  p.  35,  92. 
Milman  History  Christ,  p  194—199.  "  The  plurality  of 
ministers  over  the  same  church  continued,  even  to  the 
fourth  century,  to  be  the  order  of  the  churches."  Planck 
Gesell,  Verfass,  1,  551. 

10* 


114  CHURCH    POLITY. 

custom  of  Congregational  churches,  and  obtains,  at 
the  present  time,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  For 
the  support  of  this  distinction,  the  passages  of 
Scripture  principally  relied  on  are  1  Tim.  5  :  1.7  ; 
1  Cor.  12  :  28.*  The  latter  passage  is  too  indefinite 
in  its  phraseology  to  establish  the  distinction,  and 
would  probably  never  have  been  supposed  to  contain 
it,  had  not  an  erroneous  interpretation  of  the  former 
passage  previously  led  to  the  belief  that  such  a  dis- 
tinction really  existed.  The  passage  in  the  first 
epistle  to  Timothy  reads  as  follows:  "Let  the 
elders  that  rule  well  be  counted  worthy  of  double 
honor,  especially  they  who  labor  in  the  word  and 
doctrine."  The  attempt  to  establish  the  distinction 
in  question  on  the  authority  of  this  passage,  is  en- 
cumbered with  many  and  weighty  difiiculties.  (1.) 
The  appellation  elder  is,  every  where  else,  used  to 
designate  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  It  is  inter- 
changed with  bishop,  and  must  therefore  refer  to 
the  same  officer.  The  qualifications  necessary  for 
a  teacher  are  the  same  as  those  of  presbyters.  It 
was,  therefore,  foreign  to  the  design  of  the  apostle 
to  draw  the  line  contended  for  between  ruling  and 
teaching  elders,  and  confine  the  members  of  each 
division  to  a  particular  sphere  of  duty.f      That  the 

*  Calvin,  Com.  in  loc.    Smyth,  Ecclesiastical  Catechism, 
chap.  3,  §  6.    Miller,  Presbytcrianism,  p.  58. 
t  1  Tim.  3:2;  Titus  1 :  9. 


CHTJRCn    POLITY.  115 

term  elder  is  used  only  with  reference  to  teachers  or 
ministers  of  the  Gospel,  is  conceded  by  many  advo- 
cates of  the  Presbyterian  polity.*     (2.)  The  Scrip- 
tures  connect    teaching   and    ruling   together    as 
the  appropriate  work  of  those  to  whom  the  care  of 
the  churches  is  committed.     "  We  beseech  you  to 
know  them  which  labor  among  you  and  are  over 
you  in  the  Lord,  and  admonish  you."     These  sep- 
arate divisions  of  duty  must  be  the  province  of  the 
same  officer,  unless  we  suppose  that  an  order  has 
been  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  admonishing  the 
Churches,  as  well  as  for  ruling  and  teaching  them. 
Compare  Heb.  13:    7,17,24.     (3.)     The  total 
■  absence  of  any  directions  with  respect  to  the  qualifi- 
cation of  ruling  elders,  proves  that  no  such  officer 
is  contemplated  in  the  New  Testament.    K  these  are 
necessary  to  the  completeness  of  Church  organiza- 
tion, it  is  unaccountable,  that  while  the  other  officers 
of  the  Church  are  plainly  specified,  and  their  quali- 
fications enumerated,  no  provision  should  be  made 
for  ruling  elders.     On  these  grounds,  we  contend 
that  an  order  of  men  in  the  Church,  whose  sole 
business  is  to  assist  the  pastor  in  its  government,  is 
not  warranted  by  the  precept  or  practice   of  the 
apostles. 

What,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  is  the  distinction  to 

*  Smyth,  Office  of  Ruling  Elder,  p.  48.  Pres.  and  Prel. 
B.  I.  chap.  6. 


116  CHURCH    POLITT. 

which  the  apostle  refers  ?  The  reply  is  obvious.  It 
has  been  shown  that  a  plurality  of  elders  was  cus- 
tomary in  the  apostolic  Churches.  Many  of  these, 
after  the  example  of  Paul,  labored  with  their  own 
hands  for  support ;  and  as  they  were  stationary, 
might  do  so  with  little  inconvenience.  Others  felt 
impelled  by  the  Spirit,  to  make  missionary  excur- 
sions into  the  contiguous  settlements,  and  devote 
themselves  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  While 
the  apostle  urges  upon  the  Churches  the  duty  of 
supporting  all  their  elders,  he  commends  to  their 
special  regard  those  of  them  who  had  consecrated 
themselves  to  this  laborious  and  self-denying  work. 
The  distinction  is  not  one  of  officers,  but  of  duties 
belonging  to  the  same  office.* 

An  elder  who  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the 
preaching  of  the  Grospel  in  destitute  regions,  was 
termed  an  evangelist,  a  title  which  occurs  only 
thrice  in  the  New  Testament.  Acts  21 :  8;  Eph. 
4 :  11 ;  2  Tim. :  4,  5.  Although  not  located  in 
any  particular  place,  he  belonged  to  the  Presby- 
tery (or  Bishops)  of  some  particular  Church,  by 
whom  he  was  sent  forth  to  evangelize  the  nations, 
found  Churches,  and  extend  the  kingdom  of  llie 
Eedeemer.  As  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  is  es- 
sentially aggressive,  this  class  of  ministers  will  be 

♦Punchard,  Congregat.  p.  81.  Upham,  Ratio  Discipl. 
«  38.    Pictet,  Theol.  Christ.     Lib.  XII.  c.  10 


CHURCH   POLITY.  117 

needed  until  the  world  is  converted  to  the  faith, 
Modern  missionaries  have  succeeded  to  the  duties  of 
the  primitive  evangelists. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  Scriptures  has  thus 
led  us  to  the  conclusion,  that  Christ  has  provided  for 
his  Churches  only  two  classes  of  officers ;  bishops, 
or  elders,  and  deacons.  These  officers  are  chosen 
by  the  people,  and  derive  all  their  authority,  under 
the  Great  Head  of  the  Church,  from  the  consent  of 
the  governed.  Their  position  involves  the  most 
solemn  responsibilities.  It  is  their  duty  to  provide 
for  the  welfare  of  the  particular  flock  which  has  been 
committed  to  their  charge ;  watch  over  and  feed  it 
with  the  bread  of  life,  and  minister  to  its  comfort 
and  security  while  on  its  journey  to  the  celestial 
fold.  They  are  not  to  lord  it  over  God's  heritage. 
Any  attempt  on  their  part  to  restrict  the  privileges 
of  believers,  to  invade  their  just  rights,  and  deprive 
them  of  the  liberty  with  which  Christ  has  made 
them  free,  should  be  firmly  and  steadfastly  resisted 
by  all  who  arc  interested  in  preserving  the  institu- 
tions of  the  Gospel,  as  the  only  Lord  and  Master 
has  delivered  them.  "  The  ecclesiastical  office,"  says 
Gros,  "  is  a  service  of  the  Church  (ministerium), 
not  a  lordship  (imperium),  over  its  members."* 
A  hierarchy  claiming  a  divine  right  of  jurisdiction 
over  the  servants  of  Christ,  is  as  alien  to  the  spirit 

*  Lehrbuch  des  Naturrechts.    f  281. 


118  CHURCH   POLITY. 

of  the  Gospel,  as  it  is  hostile  to  their  moral  and 
spiritual  interests.  The  growth  of  ambition,  avarice, 
and  corruption,  its  embrace  is  pollution  and  death. 


CHAPTER  X. 

IDENTITY   OF    BISHOPS    AND    ELDEKS. 

In  examining  the  arrangements  which  Christ  has 
made  for  the  external  development  of  his  king-dom, 
we  have  seen  that  he  has  instituted  only  two  officers 
in  a  Christian  Church.  In  opposition  to  this,  it 
has  been  maintained  that  bishops  and  elders  (pres- 
byters or  priests)  are  different  officers,  that  deacons 
are  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  and  hence  that  the 
christian  ministry  is  composed  of  three  orders : 
bishops,  priests  and  deacons.  This  is  the  episco- 
pal scheme.  The  nature  of  the  deacon's  office  is 
shown  in  its  appropriate  place.  It  is  my  object  in 
this  chapter  to  prove  that  the  Scriptures  make  no 
official  distinction  between  bishops  and  elders,  that 
these  are  only  different  appellations  for  the  same 
officers.     The  position  is  sustained, 

1.  By  the  import  of  the  terms,  and  their  inter- 
change by  the  sacred  writers. 

The  term  elder  is  of  Jewish  origin,  and  imports 
the  wisdom  and  dignity  of  age,  while  the  other 
term  bishop,  which  was  borrowed  from  Grecian 
usage,  designates  the  object  for  which  the  office  was 
instituted.     "  This  name,"  says  Robinson,  "  was. 


120  CHURCH   POLITY. 

originally,  simply  the  Greek  term  equivalent  to 
elder,  which  latter  was  derived  from  the  Jewish 
polity."  *  That  this  statement  is  correct,  is  evi- 
dent jfrom  the  usage  of  the  sacred  writers. 

One  of  the  most  unequivocal  passages  relating  to 
this  subject  is  found  in  Acts  20  :  17,  compared 
with  V.  28.  The  apostle  Paul,  in  his  interview 
with  the  elders  of  Ephesus,  addresses  them  in  the 
following  words  :  —  "  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  and 
to  all  the  flock  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath 
made  you  overseers,  (or  bishops,)  to  feed  the 
church  of  God  which  he  hath  purchased  with  his 
own  blood."  Here  the  appellations  are  used  in- 
terchangeably, the  term  bishop  indicating  the  nature 
of  the  office  to  which  elders  are  called. 

Another  passage  equally  clear  occurs  in  the  first 
chapter  of  Paul's  epistle  to  Titus.  "  For  this 
cause  I  left  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou  shouldst  set  in 
order  the  things  that  are  wanting,  [to  the  complete 
organization  of  the  churches]  and  ordain  elders  in 
every  city  as  I  had  appointed  thee."  Then  in 
enumerating  the  qualifications  of  elders,  he  con- 
tinues, (as  if  to  show  that  elders  and  bishops  were 
the  same  officers,)  "  For  a  bishop  must  be  blame- 
less, as  the  steward  of  God."  f 

*  Lex.  N.  T.  p.  315 ;  Neander,  Apost.  Church,  B.  3,  chap. 
5,  p.  92. 

t  In  the  postscrips  to  the  epistles  to  Titus  and  Tim- 
othy, these  evangelists    are    called  bishops.    But   these 


CHURCH    POLITY.  121 

This  position  is  still  further  confirmed  by  1  Pet. 
5  :  1 — 4.  "  Tho  elders  which  are  among  you,  I 
exhort,  who  also  am  an  elder  .  .  .  Feed  the  flock  of 
God  which  is  among  you,  taking  the  oversight 
thereof,  i.  e.  acting  the  part  of  a  bishop." 

The  scriptural  use  of  these  terms  is  so  clear  that 
it  has  been  conceded  even  by  Episcopalians.  "  The 
name  bishop,  which  now  designates  the  highest 
grade  of  the  ministry,  is  not  appropriated  to  that 
office  in  Scripture.  That  name  is  given  to  the 
middle  order,  or  Presbyters."  *  Every  elder  is, 
therefore,  a  bishop  ;  and  "  were  it  not,"  as  Milton 
has  said,  "  that  the  tyranny  of  prelates  under  the 
name  of  bishops  had  made  our  ears  tender  and 
startling,  we  might  call  every  good  minister  a  bish- 
op, as  every  bishop,  yea  the  apostles  themselves,  are 
called  ministers,  and  the  angels,  ministering  spirits, 
and  the  ministers  again  angels,  "f 

2.  No  intermediate  officer  is  mentioned  between 

postscripts  are  spurious,  not  having  been  annexed  to  the 
epistles  until  the  fifth  century.  ''  Certain  it  is  that  in  the 
first  three  centuries,  neither  Timothy  nor  Titus  is  styled 
bishop  by  any  writer."  Campbell,  Ecclesiastical  History, 
Lecture  5,  p.  79,  where  the  absurdity  of  magnifying  Titus 
into  a  metropolitan  bishop  is  fully  exposed. 

*  Bishop  Onderdonk,  Episcopacy  Tested  by  Scripture, 
p.  12.  Waddington,  History  Church,  chap.  2,  }  2.  Bloom- 
field,  N.  T.  note  on  Acts  20 :  17.  Maurice,  Kingdom  of 
Christ,  p  370. 

t  Reformation  in  England.    Wks..  p.  19. 
11 


122  CHURCH   POLITY. 

bishops  and  deacons.  The  apostle,  in  his  instruc- 
tions to  Timothy,  1  Tim.  3  : 1 — 7,  after  specifying  the 
qualifications  of  a  bishop,  proceeds,  immediately,  to 
those  of  deacons.  That  this  omission  was  not  acci- 
dental, is  evident  from  the  fact  that  he  afterwards 
alludes  to  the  presbytery,  4  :  14.  If  these  had 
constituted  a  separate  grade  in  the  ministry,  he 
would  certainly  have  given  directions  with  respect 
to  their  qualifications.  His  omission  to  do  so  proves 
that,  in  his  view,  they  were  identical  with  bishops. 

3.  The  qualifications  of  bishops  and  elders  are 
the  same. 

In  proof  of  this,  it  is  merely  necessary  to  consult 
1  Tim.  3  :  2—7  :  Tit.  1  :  6—10.  The  matter  was 
so  understood  as  late  as  Jerome  ;  for  in  speaking  of 
these  epistles,  he  remarks — "In  both  epistles, 
whether  bishops  or  presbyters  are  to  be  elected  (for 
with  the  ancients,  bishops  and  elders  were  the  same, 
the  one  being  descriptive  of  rank,  the  other  of  age) 
they  are  required  each  to  be  the  husband  of  one 
wife."* 

4.  Their  rights  and  duties  are  the  same. 

K  the  terms,  bishop  and  elder,  are  applied  indis- 
criminately to  the  same  person,  it  follows,  of  course, 
that  whatever  is  ascribed  in  the  Scriptures  to  the 

•  Ep.  83,  ad  Ocean,  Coleman  Primitive  Church,  p.  132. — 
Gieseler,  Church  History  1,  {  29,  note  1.  Coleman.  Christ- 
Antiq.  p.  98. 


CHTIRCH    POLITY.  123 

one,  appertains  also  to  the  other.  But  there  is  here 
an  independent  source  of  proof.  The  sacred  writers, 
in  describing  the  rights  and  duties  of  bishops  in 
some  passages,  and  of  elders  in  others,  employ  lan- 
guage which  shows  that  these  were  not  difierent  offi- 
cers, but  one  and  the  same.  Heb.  13  :  7,  17  ;  1 
Thess.  5  :  12 ;  1  Tim.  5  :  17  ;  1  Tim  4  :  14 ;  2 
Tim.  1 :  6,  etc.* 

There  is  scarcely  a  subject  on  which  the  testimo- 
ny of  antiquity  is  more  uniform  and  explicit  than  the 
original  equality  of  bishops  and  elders.  A  well 
known  passage  from  Jerome  has  already  been  cited  ; 
and  many  others  might  be  referred  to.  It  will  be 
sufficient,  however,  to  quote  a  few  of  them  : 

"  It  were  a  grevious  sin  to  reject  those  who  have 
faithfully  fulfilled  the  duties  of  their  episcopal  of- 
fice. Blessed  are  those  presbyters  (or  elders)  who 
have  finished  their  course,  &c."  Clem.  Epist.  ad 
Cor.  §  44. 

"  Elders  who,  with  the  succession  cf  the  episco- 
pal, received  the  gift  of  truth."  Irenaeus  confer, 
haeres.  IV.,  26,  §  2. 

"  There  is  no  difference  between  a  bishop  and  an 

♦  Coleman,  PrimitiTe  Church,  pp.  133  — 145.  Barnes, 
Episc.  Exam.  pp.  130  — 133.  The  subject  of  this  chapter 
is  discussed,  at  large,"  by  Dr.  Smyth,  in  his  Presbytery  and 
Prelacy,  B.  I.  Turretine,  Theol.  Elenc.  Loc.  XVIII. 
Quajst.  21. 


124  CHURCH    POLITY. 

elder."  Aetius.  ap.  Epipban.  haeres.  LXXV.,  p. 
906. 

To  the  same  effect  might  be  cited  the  testimony 
of  Justin  Martyr,  Chrysostom,  and  others,  but  the 
limits  of  this  work  forbid  it.  The  reader  will  find 
the  passages  in  the  works  to  which  reference  has 
been  made  above. 

The  best  ecclesiastical  historians  and  critics  con- 
cur in  the  view  which  has  been  taken  of  the  equality 
of  bishops  and  elders. 

"  I  can  discover  no  other  difference  between  the 
elders  and  bishops  in  the  apostolic  age,  than  that  the 
first  signifies  the  rank,  the  second  the  duties  of  the 
oflBce,  whether  the  reference  is  to  one  or  more." 
Neander,  Apost.  Church,  B.  III.  ch.  5,  p.  92. 
Comp.  Gieseler,  I.  §  29. 

"  The  oflficial  designations,  bishop  and  elder,  had, 
in  primitive  times,  the  same  signification."  Hull- 
mann,  Kirchenverfassung,  S.  17. 

"  It  is  most  manifest  that  both  terms  are  promis- 
cuously used  in  the  N.  T.  of  one  and  the  same  class 
of  persons."     Mosheim,  Church  History,  1,  p.  82. 

To  this  view  the  Reformers  were  led,  with  great 
unanimity,  by  the  study  of  the  Scriptures.  Even 
in  England,  Wickliffe  and  a  host  of  others  contended 
for  the  original  equality  of  bishops  and  elders.*  Dr. 
John  Reynolds,  an  EpLscopal  divine,  who,  according 
*  Punchard,  History  Congregat.  chap.  10, 


OHUBCH   POLITY.  125 

to  Calamy,  "  was  universally  reckoned  the  wonder 
of  his  age,"  asserted,  in  the  year  1588,  "  that  they 
who,  for  these  five  hundred  years,  have  been  indus- 
trious in  reforming  the  Church,  have  thought  that  all 
pastors,  whether  called  bishops  or  presbyters,  have, 
according  to  the  word  of  God,  like  power  and  author- 
ity."* 

The  perfect  parity  of  all  the  ministers  of  the  Gos- 
pel, derives  strong  confirmation  from  the  spirit  which 
our  divine  Master  enjoined  upon  his  disciples.  On 
that  memorable  occasion,  when  the  weakness  of  a 
mother's  partiality  menaced  the  fraternal  imion  of 
the  chosen  band,  by  a  request,  which,  springing  from 
unhallowed  ambition,  sought  to  exalt  the  sons  of 
Zebedee  to  a  position  above  their  brethren,  he  inter- 
posed his  counsel  and  authority,  and  taught  them 
that  the  path  to  real  greatness  and  glory  lay  through 
humility  and  self-abasement.  He  refused  to  recog- 
nize any  distinction  among  his  followers,  except  that 
which  arises  from  their  personal  devotion  to  him  and 
his  servants.  "  Ye  know  that  the  princes  of  the 
Gentiles  exercise  dominion  over  them,  and  they 
that  are  great  exercise  authority  over  them.  But  it 
shall  not  be  so  among  you :  but  whosoever  will  be 
great  among  you,  let  him  be  your  minister ;   and 

*  Punchard,  p.  197.  The  sentiments  of  the  Reformers 
are  exhibited  by  Burnet,  History  Reformation ;  and  Neal 
Hist.  Puritans. 

11* 


126  CHURCH   POLITY, 

whosoever  will  be  chief  among  you,  let  him  be  your 
servant.  Even  as  the  son  of  man  came,  not  to  be 
ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life 
a  ransom  for  many."  He  thus  rebuked  all  aspira- 
tions after  rank  and  power  among  his  followers,  sum- 
moned them  to  laborious  and  self-denying  service  as 
the  only  criterion  of  greatness  in  his  kingdom,  and 
incited  them  to  the  pursuit  of  substantial  honor  and 
influence,  by  his  own  spotless  example. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

RIGHTS   AND    DUTIES   OF    BISHOPS. 

The  episcopate  is  an  office  ;  and  involves,  there- 
fore, the  possession  of  certain  rights,  and  an  obliga- 
tion to  perform  specific  duties.  If  this  were  not  the 
case,  the  ofiice  would  be  superfluous,  and  the  officer 
himself  a  shadow.  As  these  rights  and  duties  neces- 
sarily involve  each  other,  it  will  be  unnecessary  to 
treat  of  them  separately.  An  enumeration  of  the 
various  functions  which  have  been  appropriated  to 
the  office  of  a  bishop  by  inspired  authority,  will 
sufficiently  indicate  both  his  rights  and  his  duties. 

1,  It  is  appropriate  to  this  officer  of  a  Church,  to 
administer  the  rite  of  baptism.  This  is  evident 
from  the  commission  of  the  Redeemer  to  the  apos- 
tles, in  which  the  same  persons  are  empowered  to 
preach  and  to  baptize.  Those  who  were  "  added  to 
the  Church"  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  were  first  bap- 
tized by  the  apostles.  Philip  baptized  the  eunuch 
upon  his  own  authority,  as  a  Christian  minister ;  and 
Paul  refers  to  the  ordinance,  as  administered  by 
himself,  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  show  that  he  con- 
sidered that  he  alone  was  charged  with  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  act.     Every  minister  of  the  Gospel  is 


128  CHURCH  POLITY. 

authorized,  by  the  divine  commission,  to  baptize. 
Although,  for  the  sake  of  convenience,  the  applicant 
for  the  rite  is  examined  before  the  Church,  that  the 
members  may,  at  the  same  time,  judge  of  his  qualifi- 
cations for  Church  membership,  the  authority  to  ad- 
minister it  rests  with  those  to  whom  the  commission 
of  the  Saviour  has  been  delivered. 

It  is,  therefore,  the  special  duty  of  the  minister  to 
examine  the  applicant,  carefully,  with  reference  to 
all  the  points  which  are  implied  in  a  credible  pro- 
fession of  faith  in  the  Son  of  God.  As  one  who 
watches  for  souls,  it  is  incumbent  on  him  to  deal 
faithfully  with  those  who  seek  baptism  at  his  hands, 
and  receive  none  who  do  not  afford  satisfactory  evi- 
dence that  they  have  "  passed  from  death  unto  life." 
The  temptation  to  relax  the  terms  of  admission  to 
this  sacred  rite  ;  to  be  satisfied  with  slight  or  equiv- 
ocal evidence  of  a  change  of  heart ;  and  receive 
promiscuously  all  who  apply,  in  order  to  augment 
the  number  of  apparent  converts  and  acquire  the 
reputation  of  a  highly  successful  preacher  of  the 
Word,  is  one  to  which  no  conscientious  minister  will 
ever  yield. 

2.  Another  prerogative  of  the  bishop  is  the  right 
to  rule. 

This  officer  of  the  Church  is  denominated  an  over- 
seer— a  ruler — terms  which  imply  the  exercise  of 
authority  in  its  government.     1  Thess.  5  :  12,  13  ; 


OHUBCH   POLITY.  129 

Heb.  13:  7,17,24;  Acts.  20 :  17,18,28;  1 
Tim.  5  :  17  ;  1  Pet.  5  :  1—3.  This  authority  in- 
volves no  legislative  power  or  right ;  it  is  ministerial 
and  executive.*  It  is  of  much  importance  to  under- 
stand the  nature  of  the  subjection  which  is  enjoined 
by  Christ  to  the  pastor  of  a  Church.  From  misap- 
prehension on  this  point,  many  offences  have  arisen 
in  chui'ches.  A  pastor,  on  the  one  hand,  is  per- 
suaded that  he  is  to  rule ;  on  the  other  hand,  the 
people  know  that  he  is  not  to  exercise  lordship ;  and 
mutual  jealousies  arise.  He  thinks  he  is  only  con- 
tending for  the  legitimate  exercise  of  an  authority 
committed  to  him  for  the  good  of  the  Church. 
They,  on  the  contrary,  conceive  that  in  opposing 
him,  they  are  only  maintaining  their  just  rights,  and 
resisting  clerical  encroachments.  He  deprecates  the 
confusion  which  may  ensue  from  the  want  of  pasto- 
ral authority ;  they  fear  the  evils  which  priestcraft 
has  so  often  inflicted  upon  the  servants  of  Christ. 

"  But  when  we  turn  to  the  inspired  constitution 
of  the  Church,  and  ascertain  that  a  pastor  is  to 
execute  only  the  laws  of  Christ ;  that  his  power  is 
restricted  within  these  wholesome  and  well-defined 
limits, — all  just  grounds  of  jealousy  are  removed ; 
he  and  his  people  are  equally  under  obligation  to 
the  Redeemer.  It  is  his  duty  to  see  that  they  obey, 
faithfully,  the  laws  of  his  kingdom.     He  is  to  warn 

*  Dr.  Johnson,  Gospel  Developed,  p.  78. 


180  CHURCn   POLTTT. 

and  rebuke  the  disobedient,  and,  if  tbey  prove  obsti- 
nate and  perverse,  to  bring  their  cases  before  the 
Church,  for  its  solemn  adjudication.  Should  it  be 
objected  that  this  leaves  the  Churches  without  a 
government  sufficiently  effective  for  the  preservation 
of  peace  and  good  order,  the  only  answer  that  can 
be  made,  is  that  no  other  government  is  warranted 
by  Scripture."* 

In  vii-tue  of  his  position,  as  ruler  of  the  Church, 
the  pastor  possesses  the  right  to  preside  at  all  its 
meetings. 

3.  The  pastor,  or  bishop,  is  entitled  to  a  compe- 
tent temporal  support. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  obvious  principles  of  reason 
and  justice,  that  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire. 
This  principle  is  universally  recognized,  in  reference 
both  to  religious  and  secular  concerns,  and  has  ob- 
tained among  all  nations ;  for  even  idolaters  and 
pagans  support  the  ministers  of  their  religion.  It 
was  enforced,  by  inspired  authority,  in  the  law  of 
Moses.  The  tribe  of  Levi  was  set  apart  to  the  spe- 
cial service  of  the  Most  High,  denied  an  inheritance 
in  the  land,  and  committed  to  their  bretlu-en  for 
support.! 

*  Haldane  Soc.  Worship,  pp.  242  —  248.  See  an  excel- 
lent sennon  by  Andrew  Fuller,  in  his  "Works.  II.  p,  226. 
Boston:  1833. 

tNum.  18:  20.    Dent.  10:  8.     14:  27.     18:  1. 


CHUKCH    POLITY.  131 

As  the  reason  of  this  law  is  permanent  in  its 
character  and  equally  applicable  to  all  ages,  the 
principle  has  remained  unchanged,  under  the  gospel 
dispensation.  So  the  apostle  argued,  when  he  said 
to  the  Corinthians,  "Do  ye  not  know  that  they 
which  minister  about  holy  things  [under  the  law} 
live  of  the  things  of  the  temple  ?  And  they  which 
wait  at  the  altar  are  partakers  with  the  altar  ?  Even 
so  hath  the  Lord  ordained  that  they  which  preach 
the  Gospel  should  live  of  the  Grospel."  * 

The  apostle  here  informs  us  that  the  right  of  the 
pastor  to  just  compensation  for  his  services,  rests 
upon  a  divine  statute.  Of  the  enactment  of  it, 
we  have  an  account  in  Matt.  10  :  5 — 16.  "  The 
workman  is  worthy  of  his  meat."  This  statute, 
ori^nally  applicable  to  the  apostles,  was  afterwards 
extended  to  the  seventy  disciples ;  f  and  Paul  af- 
firms that  its  obligation  is  perpetual,  having  refer- 
ence to  all,  in  every  age,  who  are  called  to  preach 
the  Grospel.  This  law,  or  ordinance  of  our  Lord,  is 
clearly  recognized  in  the  teaching  and  practice  of 
the  apostles.  "  Let  him  that  is  taught  in  the 
word,  communicate  to  him  that  teacheth  in  all  good 
things."  t 

*  1  Cor.  9 :  13,  14. 

t  Luke  10  :  12. 

+  Gal.  6:6.  1  Cor.  9:  7—11.  16  :  17.  PhU.  4:  15—20. 
2  Cor.  11 :  8,  9.  1  Tim.  5  :  17,  18,  where  the  word  honor 
means  reward,  stipend,  or  wages. 


1^  CHUKCH    POLITY. 

It  is  clear  from  these  passages,  that  a  minister  of 
the  Gospel  has  a  divine  warrant  for  claiming  an  ad- 
equate temporal  support ;  and  to  deny  it,  is  to  con- 
travene an  express  ordinance  of  Christ.  It  is  equal- 
ly clear  that  he  is  entitled  to  nothing  more  than  a 
support.  He  is  to  live  of  the  Gospel,  not  to  accumu- 
late property,  and  acquire  an  inheritance  among  his 
brethren.  Having  food  and  raiment,  he  ought 
therewith  to  be  content,  and  not  make  his  sacred 
calling  subsidiary  to  his  worldly  interests.  * 

The  possession  of  this  right,  on  the  part  of  the 
preacher  of  the  Gospel,  involves  the  corresponding 
duty  to  give  himself  wholly  to  the  ministry.  He 
must  preach,  teach,  and  exhort ;  visit  the  people  of 
his  charge,  especially  the  sick ;  be  ready,  at  all 
times,  to  aid  them  by  his  counsel  and  advice  ;  detach 
himself,  as  far  as  practicable,  from  aU  temporal  con- 
cerns, and  devote  his  time  and  labor  to  the  care  of 
souls. 

It  has  been  remarked,  in  a  previous  chapter  of 
this  work,  that  a  plurality  of  elders  was  customary  in 
the  apostolic  Churches.  This,  if  not  universal,  was, 
at  least,  quite  common.  Some  of  these  elders  seem 
to  have  combined  a  secular  occupation  with  their 
calling  as  Christian  ministers.  Others  devoted 
themselves  entirely  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.     It 

♦  Howell,  on  the  Deaconship,  chap.  V.  Haldane,  p.  226. 
Gospel  Developed,  p.  86. 


CHUfiCH   POLITY.  133 

is  probable  that,  at  that  early  period,  each  Church 
needed  several  elders;  whilst  the  poverty  of  its 
members  generally,  and  the  contributions  which  they 
were  called  upon  to  make  to  the  relief  of  their  per- 
secuted and  suffering  brethren,  at  home  and  abroad, 
rendered  them  unable  to  furnish  an  adequate  support 
for  these  elders.  Hence,  some  of  them  resorted  to 
secular  pursuits  for  maintenance  ;  and  in  thus  adapt- 
ing themselves  to  the  exigency  of  the  case,  they 
followed  the  example  of  the  apostles.  The  same 
course  is  lawful  at  the  present  day.  The  pastor  of 
a  feeble  Church  may  properly  derive  his  support,  in 
part,  from  some  secular  avocation  ;  but  he  is,  in  no 
case,  to  resort  to  it  for  filthy  lucre's  sake.  On  the 
other  hand,  every  Church,  if  able,  is  solemnly 
bound  to  sustain  its  pastor,  so  that  he  may  give  him- 
self "  continually  to  prayer  and  to  the  ministry  of 
the  word." 


12 


CHAPTER    XII. 


THB     DEACONSHIP. 


Our  blessed  Lord  enumerated  among  the  evi- 
dences of  his  divine  mission,  the  interesting  and 
instructive  fact,  that  "  the  poor  have  the  Gospel 
preached  unto  them."  There  is  much  in  the  prom- 
ises which  it  discloses,  and  the  hopes  which  it  in- 
spires, to  claim  the  attention  of  those  upon  whom 
the  blight  of  poverty  has  fallen.  It  is  not  surpris- 
ing, therefore,  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  early 
converts  to  the  Christian  fiuth,  were  drawn  from  the 
humbler  walks  of  life.  In  consequence  of  such  an 
accession  to  the  community  of  the  disciples,  a  new 
sphere  of  labor  was  demanded  ;  since,  in  addition  to 
the  care  of  their  souls,  some  consideration  was  due 
to  their  physical  necessities.  To  have  left  them  to 
endure  the  pressure  of  poverty,  without  any  attempt, 
on  the  part  of  their  brethren,  to  lessen  its  burden, 
would  have  been  a  reproach  to  the  benevolent  spirit 
of  the  new  reli^on.  Hence  provision  was  made  for 
their  relief  and  support. 

Whilst  the  number  of  the  disciples  in  Jerusalem 
was  small,  the  apostles  could  perform  all  the  duties 
which  the  care  of  the  Churches  imposed  on  them. 


CHURCH    POLITY.  135 

But  wlien,  in  consequence  of  the  rapid  progress  of 
the  Gospel,  the  Church  was  greatly  enlarged,  a  di- 
vision of  labor  became  necessary  ;  and  they  request- 
ed the  brethren  to  select  stiitable  persons  to  attend 
to  the  disbursement  of  theii'  charities.  The  reason 
assigned  by  them  for  instituting  this  new  office  was, 
"It  is  not  reason  that  we  should  leave  the  word  of 
God  [the  preaching  of  the  Gospel]  and  serve  ta- 
bles."* A  separation  was  thus  effected  between 
the  spiritual  and  the  temporal  affairs  of  the  church  ; 
and  the  supervision  of  the  latter  was  entrusted  to  a 
body  of  officers  denominated  deacons. 

This  term,  which  is  now  appropriated  exclusively 
to  a  particular  officer  of  the  Church,  means  a  minis- 
ter or  servant ;  and  was,  originally,  applied  to  serv- 
ants of  all  classes,  whether  their  department  were 
temporal  or  spiritual.  But  as  each  of  the  other 
classes  of  servants  was  distinguished  by  some  more 
specific  appellation,  the  term  deacon  was  afterwards 
employed  to  designate  a  particular  officer  of  the 
Church,  to  whom  the  charge  of  its  temporalities  was 
committed.  Hence  it  is  the  appropriate  business  of 
the  deacons,  to  serve  tables.  The  distribution  of  the 
bread  and  and  wine  at  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  which 

♦  Acts  6 :  2.  The  brokers,  or  money-changers,  sat  upon 
tables,  in  the  market  or  other  public  places.  Hence  the 
import  of  the  expression,  serve  tables,  is  to  take  care  of 
money  affairs,  to  have  charge  of  temporalities,  alms,  &c. 
Robinson,  Lex.  N.  T.,  p.  830.    Bloomfield,  in  loc. 


136  CHURCH   POUTT. 

they  are  now  employed,  is  a  mere  matter  of  custom 
or  convenience,  and  forms  no  part  of  the  original 
design  of  the  office. 

The  nature  of  the  deaconship  is  thus  defined,  by 
the  history  of  the  origin  of  the  office.  The  official 
duties  of  the  deacons,  are  the  opposite  of  those  which 
are  assigned  to  ministers  ;  and  the  very  object  con- 
templated in  the  institution  of  the  order,  was  to  re- 
lieve preachers  of  the  Gospel  from  the  management 
of  secular  interests,  by  placing  them  under  the  di- 
rection of  others.  If,  therefore,  the  deacon  is  also 
a  preacher,  as  some  contend,  the  matter  rests  pre- 
cisely where  it  did  before  his  appointment;  and 
those  who  give  themselves  "  to  prayer  and  to  the 
ministry  of  the  word,"  are  employed  in  serving 
tables  contrary  to  the  "reason"  and  practice  of  the 
apostles.  It  is,  indeed,  objected  that  Philip,  "  one 
of  the  seven,"  did  preach  and  baptize ;  but  this 
does  not  affect  the  argumunt ;  for  as  a  deacon,  he 
had  no  right  to  do  either.  The  only  legitimate 
inference  from  the  facts  of  the  case  is,  that  he 
preached  as  a  minister  of  the  word,  after  he  had 
ceased  to  be  a  deacon,  and  had  been  ordained  an 
evangelist.*  The  two  offices  are  incompatible.  He 
eould  not  have  filled  both  at  the  same  time."  f 

As  the  deaconship  was  not  designed  to  meet  a 
temporary  exigency,  but  is  suited  to  a  state  of 

•Acts  21:  8. 

t  Smyth.    Presbytery  and  Prelacy.    B.  I.  chap.  XI. 


CHURCH   POLTTT.  137 

affairs  which  must  subsist  as  long  aa  there  is  a 
Church  upon  the  earth,  it  is  a  permanent  institu- 
tion. The  reason  of  the  office  remaining  unchang- 
ed, the  office  itself  must  be  equally  immutable. 
Every  Church  must  have  a  place  of  worship,  a  pas- 
tor to  be  supported,  and  poor  members  who  need 
assistance.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  Church  to  con- 
tribute to  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  at  home  and 
abroad.  For  all  these  purposes,  money  is  needed ; 
and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  deacons  to  collect  and 
disburse  it.  In  many  churches,  the  deacons  neglect 
altogether  the  appropriate  duties  of  their  station, 
and  satisfy  their  consciences  with  the  discharge  of 
an  extra-official  matter  with  which  they  have  no 
special  concern ;  the  distribution  of  the  elements 
at  the  Lord's  Supper  —  as  if  the  solemn  ordination 
of  men  of  rare  qualifications,  by  the  imposition  of 
hands,  contemplated  no  higher  object  than  the  hand- 
ing round  of  bread  and  wine ;  a  service  which  any 
member  of  the  Church  is  competent  to  perform. 
This  lamentable  defection  from  the  order  established 
by  the  apostles  has  rendered  the  office  of  deacon,  in 
many  of  our  Churches,  a  mere  nuUity,  if  not  a 
grievous  incumbrance. 

In  the  primitive  Churches,  the  peculiarities  of 
Eastern  manners  and  customs  *  rendered  necessary 

•  So  also  among  the  Greeks,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  Cornelius  Nepos,  in  the  Preface  to  his  Lires. 

12* 


1S8  CHURCH   POLITY. 

the  employment  of  females  ia  services  similar  to 
those  of  the  deacons.  These  were  styled  deacon- 
esses. They  were  aged  women,  usually  widows. 
To  these  females  reference  is  made  in  1  Tim.  5  :  9, 
10.  "  Let  not  a  widow  be  taken  into  the  number 
(that  is  of  deaconesses)  under  three  score  years  old," 
&c.  Their  qualifications  are  specified  by  the  apos- 
tle in  connection  with  those  of  deacons.  1.  Tim. 
3 :  11,  "  Even  so  must  their  wives  be  grave,"  &c. 
The  Greek  term  which  our  translators  have  rendered 
"wives,"  is  supposed  by  the  best  interpreters  to 
refer  to  deaconesses,  and  should  have  been  rendered 
"  the  females. "  *  The  expression  cannot  refer  to 
the  wives  of -deacons  or  of  ministers,  because  they 
do  not  stand  in  any  oflBcial  relation  to  the  Church,  t 
In  occidental  countries  where  no  such  restriction 
is  imposed  upon  the  intercourse  of  the  sexes,  this 
class  of  servants  is  unnecessary.  Hence  it  has  fal- 
len into  desuetude.  "  Morinus  offers  several  reasons 
for  the  abrogating  of  this  office  in  Syria,  which  were 
briefly,  that  the  services  of  the  women  became 
less  important  after  the  cessation  of  the  agapae  of 
the  primitive  Church,  —  that  the  care  of  the  sick 
and  the  poor,  which  had  devolved  upon  the  Church 

*  Macknight  and  Bloomfield  in  loc. 

t  The  existence  of  such  a  class  is  illustrated  by  Pliny,  in 
his  letter  to  Trajan,  who  calls  them  ministrae  Ep.  Lib. 
X.  p.  96.  Comp.  Romans  16:  1;  Timothy  5:  3;  Titus  2  : 
2;  Phil.  4:  3. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  139 

was  in  the  time  of  Constantine  assumed  by  the  State, 
—  that  after  the  introduction  of  infant  baptism, 
their  attendance  at  this  ordinance  became  of  less  im- 
portance— and  finally,  that  they,  in  their  turn,  be- 
came troublesome  aspirants  after  the  prerogatives  of 
office ;  in  a  word,  the  order  was  abolished  because 
it  was  no  longer  neccessary."*  These  helps  were 
needed  only  for  a  time.  The  circumstances  which 
required  them  have  passed  away  ;  and  as  they  sus- 
tained no  official  relation  to  the  Church  and  were 
not  embraced  in  its  regular  and  permanent  organ- 
ization, no  such  class  exists  at  the  present  day.f 

•Coleman  Christ.  Antiq.  p.  118.  Punchard  p.  85.  Ne- 
ander  Ch.  Hist.  p.  108.  Apos.  Ch.  B.  3,  chap.  5,  p.  97. 
Haldane,  p.  227  — 235. 

t  On  the  subject  of  this  chapter  see  King,  Prim.  Church, 
chap.  5,  $  1.  Halmann,  Kirchenverfassung,  S.  15.  Bacon 
Manual,  p.  40.  Punchard,  pp.  92,  10.  And  for  a  thorough 
discussion  of  the  whole  subject,  Howell,  On  the  Deacon- 
ship.    Phila,  A.  B.  P.  S.    1848. 


CHAPTEK    XIII. 

ORDINATION. 

It  is  the  practice  of  all  societies,  ecclesiastical  as 
well  as  civil,  to  induct  persons  into  office  by  a  solemn 
and  formal  inauguration.  In  reference  to  the  offi- 
cers of  a  Church,  this  ceremony  is  called  ordination  ; ; 
although  the  word  properly  implies  the  whole  of  the 
transaction  by  which  an  individual  is  authorized  to 
discharge  official  duties.  To  render  it  complete, 
two  things  are  necessary,  the  choice  of  the  Church, 
and  the  imposition  of  the  hands  of  the  Presbytery, 
with  prayer  and  fasting.  It  has  already  been  proved 
that  a  Church  possesses  the  right  to  elect  its  own 
officers  ;  and  from  this  principle  it  has  been  inferred 
by  some,  that  election  is  equivalent  to  ordination, 
and  comprehends  all  that  is  included  in  that  cere- 
mony. The  act  of  the  Presbytery  is  therefore  su- 
perfluous. If  this  were  the  case,  and  ordination  were 
complete  without  the  intervention  of  the  Presbytery, 
there  would  have  been  no  propriety  in  affirming,  as 
the  Scriptures  do,  that  Paul  and  Barnabus  "  or- 
dained elders  in  every  church,"  &c.*  In  the  efforts 
which  have  been  made  to  sustain  this  position,  great 
*  Acts  14  :  2.3  ;  cf  Tit.  1 :  5. 


CHURCH    POLITY.  141 

stress  has  been  laid  upon  the  term  ordain,  which  signi- 
fies simply  to  appoint ;  *  but  from  the  mere  use  of 
the  term,  nothing  definite  can  be  inferred,  since  it 
may  relate  to  one  kind  of  appointment  as  well  as 
another.  What  we  are  inquiring  after  is  the  thing 
— the  entire  transaction  which  is  included  in  the 
ceremony  to  which  the  term  ordination  is  applied. 
This  embraces  the  act  of  the  Presbytery,  as  well  as 
the  act  of  the  Church.  Upon  no  other  supposition 
can  the  different  accounts  which  are  given  of  the 
ceremony  in  the  New  Testament,  be  harmonized. 
In  some  cases  the  Church  is  said  to  ordain,  or  ap- 
point, its  oflBcers  ;  in  others,  the  Apostles  are  repre- 
sented as  doing  the  same  thing.  All  this  is  in 
accordance  with  an  obvious  figure  of  speech,  by 
which  a  part  is  put  for  the  whole  ;  the  initiatory  or 
the  consummating  act,  in  this  case,  being  employed  to 
designate  the  entire  transaction.  The  same  rhetori- 
cal figure  is  used  by  the  sacred  writers  on  other  sub- 
jects. Thus,  the  Lord's  Supper  is  called  break- 
ing of  bread ;  f  we  are  said  to  be  justified  by  the 
blood  of  Christ,  by  his  righteousness,  by  faith,  by 
grace.  The  use  of  one  of  these  terms  does  not  ex- 
clude the  others  ;  in  each  case  a  part  is  put  for  the 
whole.  On  a  subject  of  such  importance  as  this,  I 
am  happy  to  avail  myself  of  the  concurrence  of  Dr. 

•  Gospel  Developed,  ch.  xii — xv. 
t  Acts  2  :  42 ;  20 :  7. 


142  CHURCH    I'OLITV. 

Howell,  in  the  following  observations,  which  are 
equally  philosophical  and  scriptural.  ' '  In  the  gov- 
ernment of  states,  whatever  its  form,  checks  and 
balances  between  the  several  departments  are,  by 
experience,  found  to  be  necessary  to  secure  the  in- 
terests of  the  parties  concerned.  They  have,  ac- 
cordingly, been  adopted  by  all  civilized  nations.  In 
the  Church  of  Christ  they  are  instituted  by  divine 
authority.  We  have  now  before  us  a  striking  ex- 
ample. The  ministry  have  no  right  to  ordain  any 
man  to  the  Deaconship,  not  previously  elected  by 
the  Church  to  that  office.  The  consent  of  the 
Church  is  positively  necessary,  otherwise  he  would 
be  a  deacon  "  at  large,"  having  no  place  in  which 
to  exercise  his  functions.  On  the  other  hand,  though 
brethren  may  be  elected  by  the  Church,  they  are 
still,  unless  ordained  by  the  ministry,  not  deacons. 
There  must  be  a  concurrence  between  the  Church 
and  the  ministry  to  create  the  ofl&cer.  True,  they 
do  commonly  concur,  but  not  always,  nor  is  it  by  any 
means  a  matter  of  course.  Similar  checks  and  bal- 
ances exist  -mth.  regard  to  the  ordination  of  pastors 
and  evangelists,  and  the  baptism  of  candidates  for 
membership  in  the  Church.  [That  is,  the  minister 
may  baptize,  but  the  Church  is  not  on  that  account 
bound  to  receive  the  candidate  to  membership.] 
Thus  a  double  guard  is  thrown  around  all  the  most 


CHURCH    POLITY.  143 

important  interests  of  the   kingdom  of  the  Mes- 
siah."* 

The  imposition  of  hands  is  a  very  ancient  custom, 
and  was  practised  for  various  purposes.  It  was 
symbolical  of  benediction,  consecration,  healing,  and 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Its  import,  when  em- 
ployed in  ordination,  jiay  best  be  learned  from  the 
case  of  the  Levites,  noticed  in  Num.  8  :  10.  It  is 
well  known  that  the  tribe  of  Levi  was  consecrated 
to  "the  service  of  the  Lord,"  in  the  place  of  the 
first  bom  of  all  the  children  of  Israel.  To  indicate 
this  consecration,  the  following  ceremony  was  com- 
manded, "  Thou  shalt  bring  the  Levites  before  the 
Lord,  and  the  children  of  Israel  shall  put  their  hands 
upon  the  Levites.  And  Aaron  shall  offer  the  Le. 
vites  before  the  Lord  for  an  offering  of  the  children 
of  Israel,  that  they  may  execute  the  service  of  the 
Lord."  A  similar  practice  was  observed  when  any 
thing  was  dedicated  or  consecrated  to  the  Lord. 
There  is  nothing  mysterious  or  magical  in  this  cere- 
mony. The  children  of  Israel  put  their  hands  upon 
the  Levites,  to  indicate  by  this  symbolical  act,  that 
they  gave  them  to  the  Lord.  Such  is  its  import  in 
ordination.  The  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the 
Presbytery,  in  the  case  of  a  person  who  has  been 
chosen  to  office  by  the  suflfrages  of  the   Church, 

♦  The  Deaconship,  p.  65 ;  King.  Prim,  ch  .  p.  1,  ch.  3-4  ; 
Crowell,  Church  Member's  Manual,  p.  106.    Boston,  1847. 


144  CHUBCU    POLITY. 

means  nothing  more  than  that  his  brethren  have  set 
him  apart  to  a  specific  service.  It  is  a  public  and 
authentic  declaration  of  the  fact.  As  such,  it  was 
observed  by  the  primitive  Churches.  WTien  the 
deacons  were  appointed,  the  Apostles  prayed  and  laid 
hands  on  them,  thus  ordaining  or  appointing  them 
to  the  ofl&ce.*  If  employed  in  the  ordination  of 
deacons,  it  certainly  must  have  been  in  that  of  elders ; 
and  the  Scriptures  furnish  sufSciently  clear  indicar 
tions  that  this  was  the  case.  1  Tim.  4  :  14  ;  5  :  22. 
As  the  Apostle  in  the  latter  passage  is  speaking  of 
elders,  it  is  plain  that  he  alludes  to  their  appoint- 
ment. 

"  It  is  evident,"  says  Haldane,  "  that  laying  on 
of  hands  was  used  in  sepai-ating  men  to  the  ministry 
in  the  primitive  Apostolic  Churches.  It  was  not 
confined  to  occasions  on  which  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
conferred.  It  was  used  in  ordaining  elders  and  dea- 
cons who  required  only  the  ordinary  gifts.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  word  of  God  setting  aside  this 
usage.  It  ought,  therefore,  to  be  observed  where 
this  can  be  done,  according  to  the  example  given  us 
in  Scripture,  "t 

The  abettors  of  prelacy,  dividing  the  ministry 
into  three  grades,  restrict  the  power  of  ordination  to 
the  highest — the  episcopal.    But  the  Scriptures,  as 

*  Apts  6  :  6. 

t  Social  Worship,  ch.  viii.  p.  264 ;  Smith,  Presbytery  and 
Prelacy,  B.  1,  ch.  vii.  {  2  ;  Coleman,  Prim.  ch.  p.  140. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  145 

I  have  before  proved,  furnish  no  authority  for  such 
grades.  With  them,  bishop  and  elder,  or  presbyter, 
are  only  different  designations  of  the  same  officer ; 
and  therefore  no  provision  is  made  for  the  possession 
of  this  power  by  one  class  of  ministers,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  rest.  As  to  the  notion  that  some  mys- 
terious virtue — some  magic  fluid — is  transmitted  in 
ordination,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  conferred  upon 
the  subject  of  it,  to  be  conveyed  by  him  to  his  fellow- 
men  by  means  of  the  sacraments,  it  is  utterly  un- 
scriptural  and  absurd ;  and  can  subserve  no  other 
purpose  except  the  exaltation  of  the  priesthood,  and 
the  tyranny  of  ecclesiastical  domination.* 

*  Smyth,  Presb.  and  Prel.  B.  I,  ch.  vii.-x. ;  Apostol.  Suc- 
cession, Lee.  XX.  note  A;  Coleman,  Prim.  ch.  pp.  176-198  ; 
Dr.  Wood*,  Objections  to  Episcopacy,  Lee.  IV. ;  King, 
Prim.  Ch.  P.  I,  chap.  3 ;  Fuller's  Works,  II.  p.  660. 


13 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

BAPTISM. 

Christianity  is  preeminently  a  spiritual  religion. 
Its  germination  and  growth  in  the  heart  are  depend- 
ent upon  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
external  means  of  grace  possess  no  intrinsic  efficacy, 
but  derive  their  tendency  to  confirm  and  strengthen 
the  saints  solely  from  the  appointment  of  Grod. 
None  of  them  are  invested  with  the  agency  of  an 
(^us  operatum,  a  power  to  convey  grace  by  their 
inherent  efficiency.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the 
Christian  ordinances.  They  sustain  no  direct  relar 
tion  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul ;  since  the  great 
transformation  of  character  which  is  necessary  to 
qualify  for  the  bliss  of  heaven,  must  have  been 
experienced  before  an  individual  is  prepared  to 
receive  them.  They  are  not  saving  ordinances; 
they  can  be  approached  by  those  only  who  are 
among  the  number  of  "  such  as  shall  be  saved." 

The  New  Testament  contains  traces  of  only  two 
Christian  ordinances.  These  are  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper.  Of  the  two,  the  latter  alone  is 
strictly  a  Church  ordinance.  A  Church  is  composed 
of  baptized  believers.     Baptism  is  indispensable  to 


CHURCH   POLITY.  147 

their  admission  into  it,  but  it  does  not  make  them 
Church  members.  The  ordinance  itself  will  now 
claim  our  attention. 

In  the  prosecution  of  this  inquiry,  it  will  be  nec- 
essary to  determine  what  is  baptism,  and  who  are 
the  subjects  of  the  ordinance. 

I.  To  a  devout  mind,  it  cannot  be  a  matter  of 
trivial  interest,  that  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  not 
only  derive  their  validity  from  the  appointment  of 
the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  but  are  hallowed 
and  commended  to  our  imitation  by  his  own  exam- 
ple. It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  the  sole  object 
of  a  conscientious  inquirer,  would  be  to  ascertain  what 
was  the  form  of  the  ordinance  which  was  sanctioned 
by  Christ  himself.  This  having  been  determined, 
no  other  inquiries  need  supervene.  The  path  of 
duty  is  plain.  Having  clearly  discerned  the  foot- 
prints of  his  divine  Exemplar,  the  Christian  should 
wait  for  no  additional  incentives  to  "  follow  his 
steps."  That  Christ  was  baptized  only  in  one  way, 
is  an  obvious  inference  from  the  fact  that  he  was 
baptized  only  once.  This  way  it  is  important  to  as- 
certain. A  serious  and  careful  examination  of  the 
subject  is  demanded  by  the  highest  considerations ; 
and  the  temper  of  indifference  which  passes  it  over, 
as  a  matter  of  little  moment,  can  claim  no  fellow- 
ship with  the  spirit  of  Him  who  has  taught  us  by  his 
own  example,  to  "  fulfil  all  righteousness." 


148  CHURCH    POLITY. 

There  is  another  aspect  of  this  subject  which 
claims  our  most  profound  consideration.  Baptism 
is  a  positive  institution.  "  Moral  precepts, "  says 
Bishop  Butler,*  "  are  precepts,  the  reason  of  which 
■we  see  ;  positive  precepts,  are  precepts,  the  reason 
of  which  we  do  not  see.  Moral  duties  arise  out  of 
the  nature  of  the  case  itself,  prior  to  external  com- 
mand ;  positive  duties  do  not  arise  out  of  the  nature 
of  the  case,  but  from  external  command ;  nor  would 
they  be  duties  at  all,  were  it  not  for  such  command, 
received  from  Him  whose  creatures  and  subjects  we 
are."  The  obligation  to  obedience,  in  either  case,  is 
the  same  ;  but  the  grounds  upon  which  it  rests  are 
different.  It  is,  moreover,  the  peculiarity  of  a  moral 
precept,  that  it  may  be  obeyed,  when  only  the  spirit 
of  it  is  complied  with.  But  in  reference  to  a  posi- 
tive precept,  no  such  distinction  exits.  Positive 
institutions  derive  their  validity  solely  from  the  au- 
thority of  the  law-giver.  They  are  obligatoiy,  be- 
cause he  has  made  them  so  ;  and  they  are  valid  only 
in  the  form  in  which  he  has  thought  fit  to  appoint 
them.  To  mutilate  or  abridge  them,  is  not  simply 
to  modify,  but  to  subvert  them. 

If,  therefore,  the  ordinance  of  baptism  is  a  posi- 
tive institution,  resting  upon  the  supreme  will  of  the 
Head  of  the  Church,  and  that  will  is  expressed  in 
positive  commands,  the  obligation  to  a  strict  compli- 

*  Analogy,  P.  II.  Chap.  1. 


CHUKCH   POLITY.  149 

ance  with  them  cannot  be  denied.  To  alter  the 
ordinance,  or  substitute  any  thing  else  in  its  place, 
is  not  to  obey  the  command  of  Christ ;  and  such  a 
procedure  involves  either  a  reflection  upon  his  wis- 
dom, or  a  contempt  of  his  authority.  It  is  univer- 
sally conceded,  that  the  use  of  water  is  essential  to 
Christian  baptism.  Immersion  in  any  other  liquid, 
although  impregnated  with  the  costliest  perfumes, 
and  rolling,  like  the  fabled  Pactolus,  over  a  bed  of 
gold,  would  not  be  Christian  baptism.  But  in  a 
positive  ordinance,  such  as  this,  we  have  as  little 
right  to  change  one  part  as  another,  to  determine 
the  quantity  as  the  quality  of  the  liquid  to  be  em- 
ployed in  its  administration.  It  is  manifest,  there- 
fore, that  there  cannot  be  several  modes  of  baptism. 
Baptism  is  itself  a  mode ;  the  word  defines  the  or- 
dinance ;  and  in  making  a  profession  of  religion, 
the  use  of  water  in  any  other  mode  than  immersion, 
is  a  counterfeit  of  man's  devising,  and  not  a  Chris- 
tian institution.* 

That  immersion  alone  is  baptism,  is  proved, 
1.  By  the  primary  and  ordinary  meaning  of  the 
term.  The  founder  of  a  system  of  religion,  in  com- 
municating it  to  mankind,  would  doubtless  select  a 
medium  of  communication  sufficiently  clear  and  ex- 
plicit to  convey  his  meaning  to  those  for  whom  that 

*  Westlake,  Gen.  View  of  Bap.  chap.  1.    Booth,  Pedo- 
bap.  Exam.  P.  1,  chap.  1.    Carson  on  Bap.  Preface. 

13* 


1^  CnURCn   POLITY. 

system  was  designed ;  and  as  the  Greek  language  is 
the  chosen  medium  for  the  coramuication  of  the 
Christian  revelation,  it  is  proper  to  inquire  whether, 
upon  the  supposition  that  immersion  is  baptism, 
this  language  contains  a  word  that  conveys  distinctr 
ly  and  clearly  that  meaning.  The  copiousness  of 
the  Greek  tongue,  and  its  wonderful  adaptation  to 
the  expression  of  the  minutest  shades  of  thought, 
have  often  excited  the  admiration  of  the  scholar. 
It  would,  therefore,  be  exceedingly  strange  if  it 
lacked  a  term  for  the  expression  of  so  simple  an  idea 
as  immersion.     This,  however,  is  not  the  fact. 

There  is  a  Greek  verb,  the  primary  and  usual  im- 
port of  which,  is  to  dip  or  immerse ;  and  the  cor- 
responding noun  signifies  immersion.  Of  this  fact 
we  have  evidence  the  most  abundant  and  conclusive. 
I  proceed  to  adduce  some  portion  of  it,  confining 
myself  to  those  who  are  not  baptists  in  practice. 

Robinson  Lex.  N.  T.  Baptizo,  to  immerse,  to 
sink. 

Donnegan  Greek  Lex.  Baptizo,  to  immerse, 
submerge. 

To  the  same  effect  is  the  testimony  of  Leigh, 
Schoettgen,  Parkhurst,  Stephanus,  Pasor,  Scapula, 
Hedericus,  Wall,  Bretschneider,  and  other  Greek 
lexicographers. 

Booth  and  other  writers  have  collected  together 
a  cloud  of  witnesses  on  this  point.    I  shall  cite  only 


cinmcH  I'OLixy.  151 

a  few  of  them,  adding  some  others  which  I  have 
met  with  in  my  own  reading. 

Witsius.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  native 
signification  of  the  word  haptizo,  is  to  plunge  or  dip. 
(Econ.  Feed.  IV. :  16,  13. 

Salmasius.  Baptism  is  immersion,  and  was  ad- 
ministered, in  ancient  times,  according  to  the  force 
and  meaning  of  the  word.  Now  it  is  only  rhantism, 
or  sprinkling ;  not  immersion,  or  dipping. 

Prof.  Stuart.  Bapto  and  haptizo,  mean  to  dip, 
plunge,  or  immerge,  into  any  thing  liquid.  All  lex- 
icographers and  critics  of  any  note  agree  in  this. 
BibLRepos.  3;  p.  298. 

Gomar.  Baptismos  and  haptisma,  signify  the 
act  of  baptizing  ;  that  is,  either  plunging  alone,  or 
immersion  and  the  consequent  washing. 

Buddeus.  The  words  haptizo  and  haptismos, 
are  not  to  be  interpreted  of  aspersion,  but  always  of 
immersion. 

Vitringa.  The  act  of  baptising,  is  the  immer- 
sion of  believers  in  water.  This  expresses  the  force 
of  the  word, 

Hospinian.  Christ  commanded  us  to  be  bap- 
tized ;  by  which  word  it  is  certain  immersion  is  sig- 
nified. 

Casaubon.  This  was  the  rite  of  baptizing,  that 
persons  were  plunged  into  the  water,  which  the  very 
word  baptize  signifies.  ^ 


15» 


CHURCH    POLITY. 


Bossuet.  To  baptize,  signifies  to  plunge,  aa  is 
granted  by  all  the  world. 

Turrettine.  Baptizo,  to  baptize ;  to  dip  into,  to 
immerse.* 

Bland.  The  metaphor  of  baptism,  or  immersion 
in  water,  or  being  put  under  floods,  is  familiar  in 
Scripture,  to  signify  a  person  overwhelmed  with 
calamities,  Annot.  on  Matt.  I. ;  p.  43.  Cambridge. 
1828. 

Elsley.  Immersion  in  waters,  or  under  floods ; 
called  here  (Matt.  20 :  22)  baptism.  Annot.  p. 
193.     Oxford.     1844. 

It  is  thus  apparent,  that  the  primary  and  ordinary 
meaning  of  baptizo,  is  to  immerse.  This  being  the 
case,  the  burden  of  proof  is  shifted  upon  those  who 
af&rm  that  it  means  something  else  ;  since  it  is  an 
acknowledged  principle  of  interpretation,  as  laid 
down  by  Ernesti,  that  "  the  literal  meaning  is  not 
to  be  deserted  without  reason  or  necessity."  This 
necessity  must  be  plain  and  imperative  ;  and  even 
if  cases  could  be  cited  in  which  the  word,  in  its  sec- 
ondary meaning,  is  susceptible  of  a  different  inter- 
pretation, this  fact  would  not  invalidate  the  evidence 
which  sustains  its  primary  and  usual  import.  This 
remark  is  peculiarly  applicable  to  those  cases  in 
which  the  word  is  employed  in  a  figurative  sense. 

*  Booth  Pedobap.  Exam.  P.  I.,  chap.  2.  Hinton  Hist. 
Bap.  page  55. 


CUUKCH    POLITY.  158 

The  figure  is  to  be  explained  by  the  meaning  of  the 
word,  and  not  the  meaning  of  the  word  by  tlie  fig- 
ure.* 

But  the  advocates  of  immersion  tal^e  a  higher 
position  than  is  implied  in  the  suppositions  which 
have  just  been  made.  Dr.  Carson  has  proved  by  an 
array  of  facts  and  a  conclusiveness  of  argument,  not 
to  be  resisted,  that  "  haptizo  not  only  signifies  to 
dip  or  immerse,  but  that  it  never  has  any  other 
meaning."  t  In  this  position  he  is  sustained  by  Prof. 
Stuart.  J 

2.     Circumstances  attending  Baptism. 

A  consideration  of  the  circumstances  attending  the 
administration  of  this  ordinance,  confirms  the  opin- 
ion which  has  been  expressed  with  respect  to  the 
import  of  haptizo.  They  are  such  as  comport 
most  naturally  and  fully  with  the  idea  of  immersion. 
No  necessity  exists  for  departing  from  the  original 
and  proper  meaning  of  tlie  word.  Let  us  consider 
some  of  them. 

Matt.  3  :  16.  Jesus,  when  he  was  baptized,  went 
up  straightway  out  of  the  water.  The  most  obvious 
import  of  the  phrase  here  employed  is,  that  Jesus 
came  up  out  of  the  water  into  which  he  had  descend- 
ed for  the  purpose  of  being  baptized. 

♦  This  common  sense  principle  of  interpretation,  is  recog- 
nized  by  Daehne  Paulin.    Lehrbegr.    S.  93. 
t  On  Baptism  ;  pp.  13,  79.    N.  Y.    1832. 
JBibl.  Repos.  3;  pp.  292,  293. 


154  CHURCH   POLITY. 

John  3  :  23.  John  was  haptizing  in  Enon,  near 
to  Salim,  because  there  was  much  water  there :  and 
they  came  and  were  baptized. 

That  the  phrase  "  much  water,"  is  equivalent  to 
an  abundance,  or  large  body  of  water,  and  not  to 
many  rivulets,  is  evident  from  the  usage  of  John,  in 
other  portions  of  his  writings.  Examine  Rev.  1  : 
15;  14:  2;  19 :  6.  It  is  obvious,  that  in  these 
passages  the  sacred  writer  had  reference  to  an  abun- 
dant mass  of  water.  Compare  Rev.  17  :  1,  15. 
On  this  point,  a  learned  Episcopalian  remarks, 
"  That  the  baptism  of  John  was  by  plunging  the 
body,  seems  to  appear  from  what  is  related  of  him ; 
namely,  that  ho  baptized  in  Jordan :  that  he  bap- 
tized in  Enon,  because  there  was  much  water  there ; 
and  that  Christ  being  baptized  came  up  out  of  the 
water ;  to  which  that  seems  to  be  parallel.  Acts 
8  :  38.     Philip  and  the  eunuch  went  down,  &c."* 

The  case  of  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  is  equally  de- 
cisive, in  reference  to  the  external  act  of  baptism. 
Acts  8 :  36 — 39.  "  They  went  down  both  into  the 
water,  both  Philip  and  the  eunuch."  For  what 
purpose  Philip  went  down  into  the  water,  unless  to 
immerse  the  eunuch,  it  does  not  appear.  The  obvi- 
ous and  natural  interpretation  of  the  entire  transac- 
tion coincides  with  the  idea  of  immersion. 

I  might  proceed  to  the  examination  of  all  the 

*  Bland,  Annot.  on  Matt.  I.  p.  74. 


cuuRCH  poLiir.  155 

cases  in  the  New  Testament,  in  which  the  circum- 
stances attending  the  rite  are  detailed.  But  it  is 
not  necessary.  If  haptizo  means  to  immerse,  and 
is  never  used  in  any  other  sense,  an  actual  immersion 
must  have  taken  place  in  all  the  cases  in  reference 
to  which  it  is  used.  I  have  cited  the  instances 
above,  merely  to  show  that  the  circumstances  con- 
nected with  the  rite,  harmonize  most  naturally  and 
clearly  with  the  meaning  which  is  invariably  ascribed 
tx>  the  word  by  the  highest  authorities  in  Greek  phil- 
ology and  criticism.  For  a  more  extensive  discussion 
of  the  subject,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  works 
mentioned  in  the  margin.* 

3.     By  the  meaning  of  the  ordinance. 

Baptism  is  sjmabolical.  It  is  expressive  of  certain 
great  facts  or  truths  which  are  essential  to  the  Chria- 
tian  system ;  and  so  beautifully  and  appropriately 
does  it  represent  the  sublime  central  fact  of  our 
religion,  the  resurrection  of  the  Redeemer,  and  its 
cardinal  doctrine,  the  spiritual  renovation  of  man, 
that  even  in  the  absence  of  any  inspired  teaching  on 
the  subject,  the  mind  would  naturally  associate  it 
with  these  fundamental  truths.  But  the  Scriptures 
have  not  left  us  to  conjecture  on  this  point.  They 
furnish  plain  and  explicit  intimations  that  such  is 
the  design  of  this  significant  hieroglyphic  of  the 

*  Ripley,  Exam,  of  Stuart,  pp.  62 — 15.  Carson,  Jewett. 
Hinton,  and  Hague. 


166  CHUKCH   POLITY. 

Christian  economy.  They  teach  us  that  baptism  is 
an  emblem  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  involving, 
of  course,  its  immediate  antecedents,  his  death  and 
burial ;  and  of  that  moral  death  and  resurrection, 
which  defines  the  character  of  his  true  followers. 
This  is  clearly  the  import  of  Rom.  6  :  4 ;  Col.  2  : 
12 ;  1  Pet.  3 :  21. 

A  few  modem  interpreters,  among  whom  are 
Hodge  and  Stuart,  deny  that  there  is  any  allusion 
to  the  external  act  of  baptism  in  Rom.  6:4;  but 
in  this  they  are  at  variance  with  the  great  body  of 
commentators,  as  well  as  with  the  manifest  import 
of  the  passage  itself. 

Macknight.  He  [Christ]  submitted  to  be  baptized, 
that  is,  to  be  buried  under  the  water  by  John,  and 
to  be  raised  out  of  it  again,  as  an  emblem  of  his 
future  death  and  resurrrection.  In  like  manner, 
the  baptism  of  believers  is  emblematical  of  their 
death,  burial,  and  resurrection. 

Bloomfield.  There  is  a  plain  allusion  to  the  an- 
cient custom  of  baptism  by  immersion. 

Leighton.  Where  the  dipping  into  the  water  is 
referred  to,  as  representing  our  dying  with  Christ ; 
and  the  retiim'  thence,  as  expressive  of  our  rising 
with  him.     Comm.  on  1  Pet.  3  :  21. 

Hammond.  It  is  a  thing  that  every  Christian 
knows,  that  the  immersion  in  baptism  refers  to  the 
death  of  Christ.    The  putting  of  the  person  into  the 


CHURCH   POLITY.  157 

water,  denotes  and  proclaims  the  death  and  burial 
of  Christ. 

Hoadley.  If  baptism  had  been  then  performed 
as  it  is  now  amongst  us,  [the  Church  of  England] 
we  should  never  have  so  much  as  heard  of  this  fonn 
of  expression,  of  dying  and  rising  again  in  this  rite.* 

The  practice  of  immersion  is  commended  to  the 
disciples  of  Christ,  by  the  symbolical  exhibition 
which  it  makes  of  his  own  sublime  and  consummat- 
ing act  of  grace.  "With  inarticulate,  yet  expressive 
and  touching  power,  it  speaks  of  Him  "  who  was 
delivered  for  our  offences,  and  was  raised  again  for 
our  justification."  It  is  sad  to  reflect  that  Christian 
hands  have  mutilated  and  disfigured  this  beautiful 
ordinance,  and  deprived  it  of  its  emblematic  import ; 
so  that  in  our  efforts  to  reinstate  it  in  its  original 
honor,  and  restore  it  to  its  primitive  form,  we  have 
to  contend,  not  with  the  enemies,  but  the  friends  of 
our  common  Lord.  I  would  ask  every  pious,  unim- 
mersed  reader  who  may  peruse  these  pages,  to  pause, 
and  ask  himself,  whether  he  is  not  lending  his  influ- 
ence to  overthrow  one  of  the  most  significant  monu- 
ments of  the  Saviour's  resurrection.  If  immersion 
be  emblematic  of  a  truth  so  dear  to  the  believer  ;  if 
it  so  truthfully  represents  his  own  "  washing  of  re- 
generation and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  shed 

•Works  III.  890.  Hague,  Bap.  Ques.  107.  Crowell, 
Church  Member's  Manual,  152. 

14 


158  CHURCH   POLITY. 

on  him  "  abundantly  by  Jesus  Christ,  our  Saviour ; " 
and  if,  moreover,  as  Dr.  Wall  concedes,  "  it  was,  in 
all  probability,  the  way  by  which  oxir  blessed  Saviour, 
and  for  certain  was  the  most  usual  and  ordinary  way 
by  which  the  ancient  Christians  did  receive  their 
baptism,"  what  should  prevent  all  the  friends  of 
Christ  from  uniting  their  suffrages  in  its  behalf,  and 
combining  to  uphold  and  perpetuate  this  noble  insti- 
tution of  our  common  Christianity?  It  affords 
matter  of  devout  gi-atitude  to  Grod,  that  recent 
events  present  cheering  indications  of  a  return  to 
scriptural  baptism.  The  affusion  of  adults  has  be- 
come an  exceedingly  rare  occurrence  ;  they  almost 
invariably  demand  immersion ;  and  if  infant  baptism 
— which,  by  forestalling  inquiry,  perpetuates  error — 
were  abolished,  this  emblematic  rite  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament would  stand  forth  in  its  primitive  symmetry 
and  beauty.* 

4.     Practice  of  the  Primitive  Churches. 

The  earliest  uninspired  records  of  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory, labor  under  the  disadvantage  of  being  justly  sus- 
pected to  be,  to  some  extent,  spurious,  corrupt,  and  in- 
terpolated. Their  evidence,  therefore,  is  to  be  receiv- 
ed with  caution.  It  is  clear  to  all  who  have  examined 
the  writings  of  the  apostolic  fathers,  in  connection 
with  the  productions  of  the  evangelists  and  apostles, 

*  Booth,  Ped.  Exam.  Part  I.  ch.  3,  ch.  6.     Wcstlake,  ch. 
3,4. 


CHDRCH   POLITf.  159 

that  their  views  of  Christian  truth  are  entitled  to 
very  little  consideration.  But  the  allusions  which 
their  writings  contain  to  the  ordinance  of  baptism, 
where  the  genuineness  of  the  passages  themselves  is 
admitted,  may  be  safely  credited ;  for  as  baptism  is 
an  external  act,  appealing  to  the  senses,  the  testi- 
mony of  an  honest  and  unsuspected  spectator  of  the 
ordinance,  is  all  that  we  require  or  have  a  right  to 
demand.  It  is  on  this  principle,  that  we  unhesitat- 
ingly reject  the  notions  of  the  fathers,  with  reference 
to  the  efficacy  of  baptism ;  while  we  yield  our  un- 
suspecting assent  to  their  testimony,  with  respect  to 
the  external  act.  The  following  passages  disclose  to 
us  the  practice  of  the  early  Churches  : 

Barnabas.  Ep.  ch.  11.  "We  descend  into  the 
water,  and  come  out  of  it. 

Hermas.  Pastor,  3.  Men  descend  into  the 
water,  but  ascend  out  of  it.*  Vid.  also,  Herm.  Simil, 
IX.  16.     Iren.  III.  17,  2. 

The  testimony  of  later  writers  is  equally  explicit, 
and  is  moreover  free  from   all  suspicion. 

Justin  Martyr,  (tl64)  towards  the  conclusion  of 
his,  so-called,  Second  Apology,  thus  alludes  to  the 
administration  of  the  ordinance  :  "  Those  who  be- 
lieve and  are  persuaded  that  the  things  we  teach  and 
inculcate  are  true,  and  who  profess  ability  thus  to 
live,  are  directed  to  pray,  with  fasting,  and  to  ask  of 

*  August!  Denker,  VII.  77,  remarks :  "  This  passage 
contains  distinct  evidence  of  the  custom  of  immersion." 


leo 


CHDRCH   POLITY. 


God  the  forgiveness  of  their  former  sins,  vre  also 
fasting  and  praying  with  them.  Then  we  conduct 
to  a  place  where  there  is  water ;  and  they  are  regen- 
erated [baptized]  in  the  manner  in  which  we  have 
been  regenerated  [baptized;]  for  they  receive  a 
washing  with  water,  in  the  name  of  the  Father." 
&c.* 

TertuUian  (t220.)  We  are  immersed  in  water. 
Adv.  Prax.  26.     De  cor.  mil.  3. 

Cone.  Tolet.  V.,  (A.D.  633.)  The  immersion 
in  water  is,  as  it  were,  the  descent  to  Hades,  and 
the  emersion  from  the  water,  the  resuiTcction. 

It  is  thus  clear  that  the  practice  of  immersion  con- 
tinued in  the  Churches,  from  the  age  of  Justin  Mar. 
tyr  down  to  that  of  the  Council  of  Toledo.  It  would 
be  easy  to  cite  other  intervening  witnesses,  such  as 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  Basil, 
Gregory  Nyssen,  Chrysostom,  Theodoret,  Theophy- 
lact,  Ambrose,  &c.  ;  but  the  above  are  sufficient  to 
establish  the  general  custom.  During  this  period, 
immersion  was  the  universal  practice,  except  in  cases 
of  dangerous  sickness.  In  such  circumstances, 
pouring  or  sprinkling  was  tolerated  by  some  of  the 

*I  have  given  the  translation  of  Dr.  Murdock,  in  his  edi- 
tion of  Mosheiin,  I.  167.  Prof  Emerson,  of  Andover,  more 
correctly  renders  the  last  clause  "  for  thej-  then  perform  the 
ablution  in  the  water."  Christian  Rev.  VI.  305.  The  original 
may  be  seen  in  Monscher,  Dogmengesch.  (Von  Coin)  I. 
(99. 


CHURCH    POLITY.  161 

Churches ;  but  neither  of  these  was  ever  supported 
on  the  ground  of  tradition  or  apostolic  practice. 
Cyprian,  the  great  advocate  and  apologist  of  affusion, 
as  the  substitute  of  baptism,  never  pretended  to 
place  it  upon  the  only  ground  upon  which  it  could 
securely  rest  —  primitive  practice  —  but  attempted 
to  justify  it  by  the  "  pressing  necessity  "  of  the  case. 
In  his  judgment,  baptism  was  necessary  to  salvation, 
and  hence,  he  concluded  that  "  God's  indulgence  " 
would  permit  an  abridgment  of  the  ordinance,  in 
the  cases  of  those  whom  sickness  prevented  from 
submitting  to  it  in  the  usual  form.* 

This  position  is  maintained  by  the  most  learned 
and  impartial  historians.  Eusebius  informs  us  that 
when  Novatian  received  baptism,  by  pouring,  he  was 
"  attacked  by  an  obstinate  disease,  and  supposed  to 
be  at  the  point  of  death ;  "  f  and  that  his  ordination 
"  was  opposed  by  all  the  clergy,  and  many  of  the 
laity,  as  unlawful,  because  of  his  clinic  perfusion." 
Gieseler,  Ch.  Hist.  I.  §  68.  It  was  often  neces- 
sary to  baptize  the  sick,  and  in  that  case  sprinkling 
was  substituted  for  the  usual  rite. 

*  Cyp.  Epis.  76  (69)  ad  Magnum. 

f  Eccl.  Hist.  VI.  43.  Valesius,  in  his  note  on  this  pas- 
sage, says :  "  As  baptism  properly  signifies  immersion,  jacr- 
fusion  could  scarcely  be  called  baptism."  I  take  this  note  of 
Valesius  from  Dr.  Sears  (Christian  Rev.  III.  106),  although 
admonished  by  his  inaccurate  citation  of  Eusebius,  of  the 
hazard  of  quoting  at  second  hand.  Hinton,  Hist.  Bap.  p.  166. 

14* 


162  CUURCII   POLITT. 

Munscher.  (Von  Coin)  I.  §  199.  Only  with 
tlie  sick  was  baptism  administered  by  aspersion ;  and 
it  was  deemed  necessary  to  salvation,  unless  its  place 
was  supplied  by  the  baptism  of  blood,  i.  e.  martyr- 
dom. 

Fleury.  Moeurs  des  Chretiens,  §  5,  p.  192.  Bap- 
tism was  usually  performed  by  immersion  ;  yet  as- 
persion was  deemed  sufficient  in  cases  of  necessity, 
as  for  the  sick 

King.  Prim.  Ch.  P.  II,  ch.  4,  §§  5,  6.  Their 
usual  custom  was  to  immerse  or  dip  the  whole  body. 
Perfusion,  or  sprinkling,  was  not  accounted  unlaw- 
ful ;  but,  in  cases  of  necessity,  that  was  used,  as  in 
clinic  baptism. 

To  the  same  eflFect  is  the  testimony  of  many  other 
writers,  who  nevertheless  practise  sprinkling,  Sal- 
masius,  Pamelius,  Grotius,  Kheinwald,  Neander, 
Stroth,  Du  Fresne,  Burnet,  Towerson,  Wall.  It  is 
worthy  of  remark  that  the  same  principle  is  now 
recognized  in  the  Church  of  England,  although  the 
practice  is  very  different,  the  Rubric  requiring  that 
the  "  priest  dip  the  child,  unless  it  be  certified  that 
it  be  weakly." 

The  primitive  practice  of  immersion  is  so  clearly 
sustained  by  ecclesiastical  history,  that  it  is  conceded 
by  every  candid  inquirer.  The  few  among  those 
who  are  not  Baptists,  who  sometimes  venture  to  deny 
it,  are  soon  overwhelmed  by  the  multitude  of  wit- 


CHURCH   POLITT.  163 

nesses,  that  appear  in  their  own  ranks.  Some  of 
these  will  now  be  brought  forward. 

Dr.  Wall.  Their  [the  primitive  Christians]  gen- 
eral and  ordinary  way  was  to  baptize  by  immersion, 
or  dipping  the  person,  whether  it  were  an  infant,  or 
grown  man  or  woman,  into  the  water.  This  is  so 
plain  and  clear  by  an  infinite  nimiber  of  passages, 
that  as  one  cannot  but  pity  the  weak  endeavors  of  such 
pedobaptists  as  would  maintain  the  negative  of  it ; 
so  also  we  ought  to  disown  and  show  a  dislike  of  the 
profane  scoffs  which  some  people  give  to  the  English 
anti-pedobaptists,  merely  for  their  use  of  dipping. 
It  was,  in  all  probability,  the  way  by  which  our 
blessed  Saviour,  and  for  certain  was  the  most  usual 
and  ordinary  way  by  which  the  ancient  Christians 
did  receive  their  baptism.* 

John  Wesley.  Maiy  Wesh,  aged  eleven  days, 
was  baptized  according  to  the  custom  of  the  first 

♦  Hist.  Inf.  Bap.  II.  ch.  2,  p.  462.  We  may  contrast  with 
these  sensible  remarks,  the  refinement  of  some  recent 
American  writers.  "  It  [immersion]  is  indelicate.  It  vio- 
lates a  natural  and  healthful  sense  of  propriety  for  females 
to  expose  themselves  in  water,  with  and  before  the  other 
sex.  Though  modesty  forbids  the  statement  of  this  objec- 
tion in  all  its  force,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  sacrifice  of 
female  modesty,  in  a  religious  rite,  is  an  offering  not  re- 
quired at  our  hands."  Hints  to  an  Inquirer.  By  Parsons 
Cooke  and  Joseph  H.  Towne.  Boston :  1842.  p.  59.  The 
use  of  such  an  argument  in  support  of  affusion,  presents  an 
instance  of  what  Cyprian  might  well  denominate  a  "  press- 
ing o«et«iit7." 


164  CHURCH   POLITr. 

Church,  and  the  rule  of  the  Church  of  England,  by 
immersion.* 

Bossuet.  We  are  able  to  make  it  appear,  by  the 
acts  of  councils,  and  by  the  ancient  rituals,  that  for 
thirteen  hundred  years,  baptism  was  thus  adminis- 
tered throughout  the  whole  Church,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible.! 

Von  Coin.  Immersion  in  water  was  general  un- 
til the  thirteenth  century ;  among  the  Latins  it  was 
then  displaced  by  sprinkling,  but  retained  by  the 
Greeks.  I 

Miinscher.  Baptism  was  generally  performed  by 
immersion.  The  baptism  of  the  sick,  which  was 
performed  by  aspersion,  is  mentioned  for  the  first 
time,  in  the  third  century.  § 

Usteri.  The  rite  of  baptism,  by  which  the  per- 
sons baptized  were  entirely  immersed  in  water. 
Such  is  the  testimony  of  the  ancient  witnesses.  || 

Klee,  Roman  Catholic  Professor  of  Theology  in 
the  University  at  Bonn.  Immersion  was  the  mode 
of  baptism  ordinarily  observed  in  the  primitive  age, 

*  Journal  from  his  embarking  for  Georgia,  p.  H. 

f  Stennett  against  Russen.    p.  176. 

J  Dogmengesch.  II.  S.  203 ;  also  S.  208,  where  he  cites 
the  following  passage  from  Thomas  Aquinas.  In  immer- 
sione  expressius  repreesentatur  figura  sepulturae  Christi,  et 
ideo  hie  modus  baptizandi  est  communior  et  laudabilior. 
Summse,  P.  III.  Qu.  66.  Art.  6. 

§  Dogmengesch  II.  §  231. 

H  Paulin.  Lehrbegr.  S.  224, 


CHURCH   POLITY.  165 

in  connection  with  which  baptism  by  aspersion  oc- 
curs as  an  exception  to  the  rule.* 

Prof.  Stuart.  "  It  is,"  says  Augusti,  "  a  thing 
made  out,"  viz.  the  ancient  practice  of  immersion. 
So  indeed  all  the  writers  who  have  thoroughly  in- 
vestigated the  subject.  I  know  of  no  one  usage  of 
ancient  times,  which  seems  to  be  more  clearly  and 
certainly  made  out.  I  cannot  see  how  it  is  possible 
for  any  candid  man  who  examines  the  subject  to 
deny  this.f 

Penny  Cyclopedia.  The  manner  in  which  it 
Q)aptisra]  was  performed,  appears  to  have  been  at 
first  by  complete  immersion.  John  baptized  in  the 
Jordan ;  and  in  Enon,  because  there  was  much  wa- 
ter there.  The  Ethiopian  eunuch  went  down  into  the 
water  to  receive  baptism  from  Philip.  The  words 
baptism  and  to  baptize  are  Greek  terms,  which  im- 
ply, in  their  ordinaiy  acceptation,  icashing,  or  dip- 
ping. It  was  the  practice  of  the  English  Church 
from  the  beginning,  to  immerse  the  whole  body.  % 

Kitto's  Cyclopedia  of  Biblical  Literature.  The 
whole  body  was  immersed  in  water.  § 

*  Lehrb.  der  Dogmengesch.  II.  S.  147. 

t  Bibl.  Repos.  III.  359. 

JVol.  III.  413,  414. 

§  Art.  Baptism.  I.  288.  See  also  Coleman's  Christian 
Antiq.  p.  27-5,  and  the  citations  in  Christian  Rev.  III. 
99-108.  Hinton,Hist.  Bap.  197-208.  Booth,  Pedobap. 
Exam.  P.  I.  ch.  4. 


l66  CHURCH   POLITY. 

The  views  which  have  been  submitted,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  nature  of  the  external  act  of  baptism,  derive 
strong  confirmation  from  the  universal  and  invariable 
practice  of  the  Greek  Church.  It  is  to  be  supposed 
that  the  members  of  that  communion  are  acquainted 
with  their  own  language ;  and  therefore  their  mode  of 
administering  the  rite  of  baptism  affords  a  very  sat- 
isfactory explanation  of  the  meaning  of  the  word. 
ThLs  has  uniformly  been  immersion.  Neudecker 
informs  us,  on  the  authority  of  the  Orthodox  Confes- 
sion of  the  Greek  church,  Metrophanes,  Critxjpu- 
lus,  Stourdza,  and  others,  that  this  is  their  present 
practice.*  This  church  has  always  strenuously  as- 
serted the  necessity  of  immersion  to  the  validity  of 
the  ordinance ;  and  has,  in  consequence,  condemned 
and  rejected  the  afiiisions  of  the  Latin  Church.  An 
effort  was  made  to  unite  the  Oriental  and  Western 
Churches,  at  the  session  of  the  Council  of  Florence, 
A.D.  1439 ;  and  the  Roman  pontiff  employed  re- 
wards, threats,  and  promises,  to  induce  the  Greeks  to 
accede  to  his  terms  of  accommodation.  Mark  of  Ephe- 
sus,  who  was  present  at  this  council,  maintained,  in  an 
encyclical  letter  addressed  to  all  the  Greek  bishops 
and  churches,  the  absolute  impossibility  of  such  a 
iinion,  and  that,  too,  upon  the  ground  that  the  baptism 

♦Munscher.Dogmengesch.  ed.  Neudecker,  III.  618,  where 
the  requisite  quotations  are  found. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  167 

of  the  Latins  was  an  entirely  different  thing  from 
that  of  the  Greeks.* 

It  is  a  fatal  objection  to  that  perversion  of  the 
ordinance  of  baptism,  which  has  become  so  common 
in  western  Christendom,  that  it  is  utterly  destitute 
of  support  from  apostolic  or  primitive  practice,  is  at 
variance  with  the  general  practice  of  the  Latins,  for 
thirteen  hundred  years,  and  the  uniform  practice  of 
the  Greeks,  down  to  the  present  day.  Affusion  was 
first  tolerated  in  the  third  century,  on  the  plea  of 
necessity,  a  necessity  founded  on  a  most  unscriptural 
and  portentous  error.  This  error,  the  alleged  ne- 
cessity of  the  rite  to  salvation,  gave  rise,  as  I  shall 
presently  show,  to  infant  baptism;  thus  nullifying 
the  ordinance,  both  in  its  mode  and  its  subjects,  and 
evincing  the  intimate  connection  which  subsists  be- 
tween corruption  in  doctrine  and  error  in  practice. f 

*  Klee,  Dogmengesch.  II.  149.  Mosheim,  II.  502. 
Hague's  Baptismal  Question,  p.  17.  Coleman,  Chr.  Antiq. 
p.  266. 

t  The  history  of  sprinkling  is  as  curious  as  it  is  obscure. 
We  have  seen  how  pouring  was  introduced  in  the  case  of 
Novatian,  and  sustained  by  the  authority  of  Cyprian 
(t  258).  The  passage  of  Cyprian  was  introduced  by  Gra- 
tian  into  his  Decretum  (de  Consecr.  Dist.  4.  cap.  126)  A.D. 
1150.  Yet  in  the  time  of  Thomas  Aquinas  (f  1274),  im- 
mersion was  the  more  common  practice,  as  we  learn  from 
the  angelic  doctor  himself.  He  gives  it  as  his  judgment 
that  although  it  is  safer  to  baptize  by  immersion,  because 
his  was  the  more  common,  affusion  or  aspersion  will  an- 
swer the  purpose,  particularly  in  case  of  necessity.    This 


m 


CHURCH    POLITY. 


II.    SUBJECTS    OF   BAPTISM. 

The  genius  of  Christianity  is  peculiar.  Recog- 
nizing no  proxies  or  representatives  between  the  sin- 
necessity  exists  when,  1,  there  is  a  great  multitude  to  be 
baptized ;  2,  water  is  scarce ;  3,  the  administrator  is  feeble ; 
4,  the  candidate  is  feeble.  A  case  occurred,  under  the  first 
head,  in  the  baptism  of  the  Lithuanians,  A.D.  1387.  (It 
ought  to  be  mentioned  that  the  first  ecclesiastical  authority 
for  sprinkling  was  given  by  the  Council  of  Ravenna  A.D. 
1311.  The  case  of  Stephen,  referred  to  by  Hinton,  p.  191, 
seems  somewhat  apocryphal.  BasnagQ  Monumen.  I.  Prte- 
fat  V.  4.  Robin.  Hist.  Bap.  429).  The  circumstances 
were  these :  Jagello,  Grand  Duke  of  Lithuania,  aspired  to 
the  hand  of  Hedwig,  the  heiress  of  the  Polish  crown  ;  but 
neither  she  nor  her  subjects  would  favor  his  pretensions 
tinless  he  became  a  good.  Catholic.  Hence,  although  he 
had  been  baptized  twice  before,  he  consented  to  receive  bap- 
tism again,  in  Cracow.  Many  of  his  subjects  followed  his 
example ;  and  the  Duke  rewarded  each  of  them,  for  this 
pious  act,  with  a  new  suit  of  clothes.  This  was  too  great  a 
temptation  to  the  rest  of  the  Lithuanians ;  they  came  in 
crowds  to  be  baptized  and  get  a  new  coat.  Et  quoniam 
labor  immensus  erat,  &c. ,  because  the  labor  of  baptizing 
such  a  multitude  was  too  great,  they  were  filed  off  into 
separate  companies,  and  sprinkled,  each  company  receiving 
a  Christian  name  ;  as  the  company  of  Peter,  of  Paul,  &c. ; 
and  every  member  of  a  particular  company,  bearing  the 
name  by  which  it  was  designated.  Gieseler,  Ch  Hist.  §  124. 
Von  Coin,  II.  209.  The  only  persons  who  opposed  immer- 
sion on  any  other  ground  except  necessity,  were  Theophro- 
nius  and  Eutychius,  the  disciples  of  Eunomius,  who  poured 
water  upon  the  head  and  arms.  The  reason  which  they 
gave  for  this  practice  is  not  fit  to  be  repeated  here.  Vid. 
Klee,  11,  148. 


CHUKCn   POLITY.  169 

ner  and  the  Saviour,  it  urges  its  claims  upon  each 
individual  of  the  race  to  whom  it  is  sent,  and  its 
ultimate  issues  are  suspended  upon  the  personal 
reception  or  rejection  of  its  gracious  provisions.  Sal- 
vation is  found  only  in  connection  veith  the  actual  ex- 
istence of  the  conditions  which  it  demands  in  those 
upon  whom  the  blessing  is  conferred.  The  com- 
mands of  Christ  must  be  obeyed  in  person,  or  not 
at  all.  That  one  individual  should  be  baptized  for 
another  is  absurd,  as  is  universally  conceded  ;  but 
that  one  should  perform  for  another  the  conditions 
on  which  alone  the  ordinance  possesses  any  signifi- 
cance or  value,  although  not  so  generally  admitted, 
is  equally  opposed  to  the  dictates  of  reason  and  con- 
science. The  principle  of  substitution  is,  indeed, 
the  grandest  feature  of  the  Christian  scheme  ;  but 
it  relates  solely  to  the  vicarious  work  of  the  man 
Christ  Jesus,  the  substitution  of  the  innocent  for 
the  guilty ;  it  does  not  affect  the  relations  of  the 
guilty  among  themselves.  No  moral  being  can  do 
for  another  that  which  God  requires  at  his  own 
hands ;  and  if  repentance  and  faith  are  required  of 
every  individual  to  whom  the  message  of  the  gospel 
comes,  it  is  manifest  that  the  existence  of  these 
graces  in  one  can  exert  no  direct  influence  upon  an- 
other, nor  change  the  relation  in  which  he  stands  to 
God.  Christianity,  from  its  very  nature,  excludes 
all  human  mediators,  proxies,  or  sponsors. 

15 


170  CHURCH    POLITY. 

Such  being  the  genius  of  the  Christian  revela- 
tion, if  we  proceed  to  examine  the  character  of 
those  upon  whom  its  duties  are  imposed,  we  may 
justly  expect  to  find  in  them  those  qualifications 
which  define  and  constitute  a  moral  agent.  If  any 
individuals  of  our  race  are  destitute  of  these  quali- 
fications, we  may  fairly  conclude  that  the  gospel  is 
not  addressed  to  them.  Infants  and  idiots  are  not 
moral  agents ;  Christianity  therefore  demands  no- 
thing at  their  hands.  They  may,  we  believe  they 
do,  share  in  its  benefits;  but  they  do  not  come 
within  the  sphere  of  its  requisitions.  No  Christian 
duty  is  enjoined  upon  them,  for  the  obvious  reason 
that  they  can  perform  none.  The  gospel  does  not 
require  a  natural  and  physical  impossibility. 

Baptism  is  a  Christian  duty,  and  is  obligatory 
only  on  moral  agents.  Believei-s  are  the  only  pro- 
per subjects.     This  position  is  sustained : 

1.  By  the  evidence  of  the  Scriptures. 

The  commission  which  imparts  validity  and  force 
to  this  ordinance  was  given  in  the  following  words : 
"  Gk)  ye  unto  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature.  He  that  believeth  and  is  bap- 
tized shall  be  saved,  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall 
be  damned."  Mark  16  :  15, 16  ;  cf.  Matt.  28  :  19. 
Here  baptism  is  subsequent  to  faith,  and  is  contem- 
plated as  the  duty  only  of  one  that  believeth.  When 
this  commission  was  given,  the  ordinance  was  al- 


CHURCH   POLITY.  171 

ready  in  existence  and  was  familiar  to  the  disciples. 
It  is,  therefore,  relevant  to  revert  to  its  previous 
history,  to  ascertain  the  meaning  which  they  must 
have  attached  to  the  commission.  Going  back  to 
"  the  beginning  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,"  the 
baptism  of  John,  we  find  that  he  preached  repent- 
ance, and  the  people  were  baptized  of  him,  "  con- 
fessing their  sins."  Such  is  the  testimony  of  Jo- 
sephus,  who  affirms  that  John's  baptism  was  admin- 
istered on  the  supposition  that  "  the  soul  was  puri- 
fied before  by  righteousness."  *  "Adult  Jews," 
says  Scott,  in  his  comment  on  this  passage  of  Mark, 
"  were  the  only  persons,  so  far  as  we  can  find,  whom 
John  admitted  to  baptism."  We  search  the  gos- 
pels in  vain  for  any  instance  of  infant  baptism. 
Children  were  brought  to  Jesus.  They  were  bless- 
ed, but  not  baptized  ;  for  it  is  expressly  said  that 
Jesus  baptized  not.     John  4:2. 

Such  was  the  state  of  the  case  when  the  apostles 
received  the  commission.  The  practice  of  baptism 
was  settled,  so  that  even  if  that  commission  had 
been  given  in  general  terms  —  if  it  had  embraced 
simply  the  command  to  baptize,  they  could  have 
had  no  hesitation  with  respect  to  the  subjects  of  bap- 
tism. But  the  commission  is  not  general  nor  am- 
biguous ;  it  is  specific  and  plain.  The  direction  to 
baptize  is  limited,  in  its  application,  to  believers. 
•  Antiq.  B.  18,  c.  6,  §  2. 


ITl  ClITJUCir    POLITY. 

The  efforts  which  are  made  to  evade  the  obvious 
import,  of  tlie  commission  are  more  plausible  than 
forcible.  Thus  it  is  alleged,  by  a  writer  who  as- 
sumes tliat  infant  baptism  was  already  in  use  in  the 
time  of  the  apostles,  that  ' '  in  giving  directions,  or 
issuing  a  command,  certain  things  are  always  taken 
for  granted  as  being  well  known,  and  we  only  aim 
to  be  explicit  enough  to  be  clearly  understood.  For 
instance,  a  messenger  is  sent  to  the  post-office.  The 
order  issued  is,  '  go  and  bring  my  papers,^  or  sim- 
ply, ^  go  to  the  post-office.^  The  messenger  goes 
and  brings  letters,  nev)spapers,  and  pamphlets,  and 
he  acts  in  accordance  with  the  intention  of  him  who 
sent  him."  *     A  command  issued  in  terms  so  loose 

*  Infant  Baptism,  by  Wra.  Hodges,  A.M.,  Phila.,  1844, 
p.  168.  The  practice  of  proselyte  baptism  among  the  Jews 
in  the  age  of  the  apostles,  by  which  this  writer,  after  Wall, 
proves  the  existence  of  infant  baptism,  cannot  itself  be 
proved.  Dr.  Gill  assures  us  there  is  no  mention  made  of  it, 
either  by  the  Jewish  doctors  or  the  Christian  fathers  of  the 
first  three  or  four  centuries.  Dissertation  on  Pros.  Bap. 
Dr.  Lardner  considers  it  "  a  mere  fiction  of  the  Rabbins  by 
whom  we  have  suffered  ourselves  to  be  imposed  upon." 
Letter  to  Dr.  Doddridge.  "  It  is  at  length  settled  by  the 
great  critics  of  Germany,  that  the  existence  of  a  proselyte 
baptism,  as  a  Jewish  institution  in  the  time  of  Christ,  can- 
not be  proved."  Christian  Review,  3,  p.  203.  This  is  the 
judgment  of  such  men  as  Neandcr,  Olshausen,  Hase,  Bot- 
tiger,  Winer,  &c.  But  proselyte  baptism,  if  admitted  to 
have  existed  at  that  time,  wouhl  be  decidedly  against  the 
practice  of  pedobaptists.  Children  that  were  born  after  the 
parents'  adoption  of  the  Jewish  religion,  were  mo<  to  be  bap- 


CHURCH   POLITY.  173 

as  these  may  suit  the  case  which  has  been  suggested; 
but  it  could  never  find  its  way  into  any  human 
statute,  much  less  would  it  be  incorporated  in  the 
great  law  of  baptism,  enacted  by  the  Head  of  the 
Church,  for  all  nations  and  for  all  times.  The  case 
is  not  a  parallel  one.  To  make  it  correspond  with 
the  commission,  the  order  must  be  issued  thus  :  — 
"  Go  and  bring  my  letters  ;  those  that  are  post-paid 
and  addressed  to  me,  bring ;  those  that  are  i[ioi  post- 
paid, leave  at  the  office."  If  the  messenger  were 
required  not  only  to  execute  this  commission,  but 
to  make  it  known  for  the  benefit  of  his  employer's 
correspondents,  it  would  certainly  be  his  duty  to  as- 
sure them  that  these  terms  are  imperative,  that  a 
letter  which  was  not  post-paid,  even  if  addressed  to 
his  employer,  would  not  be  received.  Baptism  is 
the  ordinance  by  which  an  individual  is  addressed 
to  Christ,  indicated  to  be  his ;  but  unless  the  other 
condition  be  fulfilled,  unless  faith  be  exercised,  he 
will  not  be  received.  If  the  letter  be  not  post-paid 
the  address  will  not  carry,  it  to  its  destination. 
Whether  some  other  arrangement  may  not  have  been 
made  by  his  employer,  by  which  those  who  cannot 
pay  may  secure  the  reception  of  their  letters,  is  an- 
other question,  which  is  not  embraced  in  the  terms  of 

tized.  Analogy  would  require  that  the  children  of  Christian 
parents  should  not  be  baptized;  only  the  children  who 
were  bom  before  the  parents  came  to  the  rite  would  be  en- 
titled to  participate  in  it. 

15* 


tSSI  CHURCH   POtlTT. 

his  commission.  So  also,  whether  provision  has  been 
made  for  the  salvation  of  those  who  cannot  believe,  is 
a  distinct  question,  not  dependent  for  its  solution 
upon  the  commission  of  the  Redeemer,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  conditions  of  baptism.  This  explica- 
tion affords  a  satisfactory  reply  to  the  argument 
which  affirms  that  if,  according  to  the  commission, 
infants  cannot  be  baptized,  they  cannot  be  saved. 
The  commission  has  no  reference  to  infants,  and 
therefore  does  not  determine  the  conditions  of  their 
salvation.  It  is  addressed  only  to  such  as  may  be 
taught  and  may  become  disciples. 

That  the  commission  was  so  understood  by  the 
apostles  is  evident  from  their  own  subsequent  prac- 
tice. On  the  day  of  Pentecost  Peter  preached; 
many  of  his  hearers  were  converted  :  "  then  they 
that  gladly  received  the  word  were  baptized,  and  the 
same  day  were  added  to  them  about  three  thousand 
souls.  And  they  continued  in  the  apostles'  doc- 
trine and  fellowship,"  &c.  Acts  2  :  41.  Here 
the  ordinance  is  restricted  to  those  who  "  gladly  re- 
ceived the  word." 

The  next  account  of  baptism  occurs  in  Acts  8  : 
12.  "  When  they  believed  Philip,  preaching  the 
things  concerning  the  kingdom  of  Grod,  and  the  name 
of  Jesus,  they  were  baptized,  both  men  and  women." 
Nothing  can  be  more  expressive  of  the  extent  and 
limitation  of  the  ordinance.     The  specific  mention 


CHURCH    POUTT.  175 

of  men  and  women  excludes  the  supposition  that 
children  were  also  baptized. 

Aii  argument  in  favor  of  infant  baptism  has  been 
derived  from  the  baptism  of  households.  But  it  is 
founded  upon  the  unwarrantable  assumption  that 
infants  are  necessarily  included  in  a  household. 
The  baptism  of  entire  households,  upon  a  profession 
of  faith,  has  become  so  common  an  occurrence  that 
this  argument  has  lost  all  its  force.  "There  were 
eight  baptized  families  belonging  to  the  Karen  Bap- 
tist Mission  before  it  was  as  old  as  the  apostolic  mis- 
sion, when  the  family  of  Lydia  was  baptized.  The 
Christian  Watchman  of  Jan.  29,  1841,  presents  au- 
thentic proof  of  the  existence,  at  that  time,  of  up- 
wards of  fifty  baptized  households,  connected  with 
Baptist  churches— every  member  of  whom  was  bap- 
tized on  profession  of  faith,  and  added  to  the 
Church."  *  Such  were  probably  the  constituents  of 
the  households  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament. 
Cornelius  was  "  a  devout  man  and  one  that  feared 
God  with  all  his  house."  Acts  10  :  2.  Peter 
himself  testifies  that  they  had  "received  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  before  he  "  commanded  them  to  be  baptiz- 
ed. "  In  Acts  18  :  8,  we  are  informed  :  "  Crispus 
the  chief  ruler  of  the  synagogue  believed  on  the 
Lord  with  all  his  house ;  and  many  of  the   Corin- 

•  Crowell,  Church  Member's  Manual.    Boston,  1847.    P. 
168. 


/ 


176  CHIJRCH    POLITY. 

thians  hearing,  believed  and  were  baptized."  The 
household  of  Stephanus,  baptized  by  Paul,  "  addict- 
ed themselves  to  the  ministry  of  the  saints,'' and 
could  not  therefore  have  been  infants. 

Even  admitting  that  these  households  embraced 
infants,  the  fact  proves  nothing  in  favor  of  infant 
baptism.  The  apostles  had  no  authority  to  baptize 
them,  and  therefore  could  not  have  done  it.  The 
nature  of  the  case  excludes  them.  It  is  required  of 
a  bishop  that  he  be  "  one  that  ruleth  well  his  own 
house."  But  this  requisition  cannot  apply  to  new- 
ly-bom  infants,  who  are  incapable  of  government. 
The  nature  of  the  case  restricts  it  to  adults,  or  at 
least  to  children  who  are  old  enough  to  be  ruled. 
"  There  is,"  says  Carson,  "  no  axiom  in  mathemat- 
ics more  clear,  than  that  the  households  are  nothing 
to  the  purpose  of  infant  baptism.  If  the  term 
household  does  not  necessarily  imply  infants,  then 
there  is  no  evidence  from  the  term  that  there  were 
infants  in  those  households.  Again,  as  such  phrase- 
ology is,  in  daily  conversation,  used  with  exceptions, 
80,  though  infants  had  been  in  those  households,  the 
known  limitations  of  the  commission  would  exclude 
them."  * 

The  fallacy  of  this  argument  has  been  fully  ex- 
posed by  a  pedobaptist  writer  of  great  logical  acu- 
men, who  candidly  admits  "  that    (historically  con- 

♦  Carson  on  Baptism.  N.  Y.,  1832.    P.  307. 


CHURCH    POLITY. 


177 


sidered)  there  exists  no  sufficient  positive  evidence 
that  the  baptism  of  infants  was  instituted  by  the 
apostles,  in  the  practice  of  the  apostolic  age.  I 
have,  I  confess,  no  eye  for  these  smoke-like  ■wreaths 
of  inference,  this  ever-widening  spiral  ergo  from  the 
narrow  aperture  of  perhaps  a  single  text ;  or  rather 
an  interpretation  forced  into  it  by  construing  an 
idiomatic  phrase  in  an  artless  narrative  with  the 
same  absoluteness  as  if  it  had  formed  part  of  a  mathe- 
matical problem.  I  start  back  from  these  inverted 
pyramids,  where  the  apex  is  the  base.  If  I  should 
inform  any  one  that  I  had  called  at  a  friend's  house, 
but  had  found  nobody  at  home,  the  family  having 
all  gone  to  the  play  ;  and  if  he,  on  the  strength  of 
this  information,  should  take  occasion  to  asperse  my 
friend's  wife  for  unmotherly  conduct,  in  taking  an 
infant,  six  months  old,  to  a  crowded  theatre,  would 
you  allow  him  to  press  on  the  words  nobody  and  all 
the  family,  in  justification  of  the  slander  ?  Would 
you  not  tell  him  that  the  words  were  to  be  interpret- 
ed by  the  nature  of  the  subject,  the  purpose  of  the 
speaker,  and  their  ordinary  acceptation?  and  that 
he  must  or  might  have  known  that  infants  of  that 
age  would  not  be  admitted  into  the  theatre  ?  Exact- 
ly so  with  regard  to  the  words,  '  he  and  all  his  house- 
hold.' Had  baptism  of  infants  at  that  early  period 
of  the  gospel  been  a  known  practice,  or  had  this 
been  previously  demonstrated,   then,  indeed,   the 


178  CHURCH    POLITY. 

argument  that  in  all  probability  there  was  one  or 
more  infants  or  young  children  in  so  large  a  family, 
would  be  no  otherwise  objectionable  than  as  being 
superfluous,  and  a  sort  of  anti-climax  in  logic. 
But  if  the  words  are  cited  as  the  proof,  it  would  be 
a  clear  petitio  principii,  though  there  had  been 
nothing  else  against  it.  But  when  we  turn  back 
to  the  Scriptures  preceding  the  narrative,  and  find 
repentance  and  belief  demanded  as  the  terms  and 
indispensable  conditions  of  baptism — then  the  case 
above  imagined  applies  in  its  full  force.  Equally 
vain  is  the  pretended  analogy  from  circumcision, 
which  was  no  sacrament  at  all,  but  the  means  and 
mark  of  national  distintcion."  * 

The  scriptural  argument  in  proof  of  our  position 
is  corroborated  by  the  account  which  the  apostles 
give  of  the  meaning  or  spiritual  design  of  baptism. 
"  Know  ye  not  that  so  many  of  us  as  were 
baptized  into  Christ  were  baptized  into  his  death. 
Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism,  into 
death,  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up  from  the 
dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also 
should  walk  in  newness  of  life."  Rom.  6  :  3.  cf. 
Col.  2  :  12.  Those  who  are  baptized,  are  baptized 
into  Christ's  death,  as  dying  with  him,  and  as  rising 
with  him  to  a  new  life.     Baptism  is  symbolical  of  a 

•  Coleridge,  Aids   to  Reflection.    Burlington,  1829.     P. 
220. 


CHUKCH   POLITY.  179 

change,  of  which  infants  are  incapable.  Equally 
expressive  is  the  language  of  Gral.  3  :  27.  "  For  as 
many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ, 
have  put  on  Christ."  Here  baptism  implies  a  put- 
ting on  of  Christ,  a  fact  which  can  be  af&rmed  only 
of  believers. 

If  the  apostolic  commission,  the  import  of  the 
rite,  and  the  practice  of  the  apostles  clearly  evince 
that  baptism  is  to  be  administered  only  to  those  who 
profess  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  no  respect  is  due  to 
the  objections  which  have  been  urged  against  this 
position  on  the  ground  that  certain  passages  in  the 
New  Testament  imply  the  baptism  of  infants  ;  such 
as  Matt.  19  :  13-15*;  Acts  2  :  38,  39 ;  1  Cor. 
7  :  12-14.  All  these  passages  are  susceptible  of 
an  explanation  which  entirely  accords  with  the  bap- 
tism of  believers,  t 

2.  The  testimony  of  ecclesiastical  antiquity. 

There  exists  no  evidence  in  favor  of  the  existence 
of  infant  baptism  in  the  first  century,  but  there  is 
conclusive  evidence  against  it.  Justin  Martyr,  A.D. 
140,  thus  describes  the  rite  of  baptism :  "  They 
who  are  persuaded  and  do  believe  that  these  things 

*  Of  this  passage  Carson  remarks  :  ""We  might  as  well 
seek  a  warrant  for  infant  baptism  in  Magna  Charta,  or  the 
Bill  of  Rights.    Baptism,  p.  319. 

t  For  a  discussion  of  these  points,  the  reader  is  referred 
to  the  works  on  Baptism.  Carson,  pp.  319 — 338.  Hinton, 
Booth,  and  others. 


/ 


ISO  CHURCH   FOIilTY. 

whicb  are  taugbt  by  us  are  true,  and  do  promise  to 
live  according  to  tbera,  are  directed  first  to  pray, 
and  ask  of  God,  witb  fasting,  the  forgiveness  of 
their  former  sins ;  and  we  also  pray  and  fast  together 
with  them.  Then  we  bring  them  to  some  place 
where  there  is  water,  and  they  are  regenerated  by 
the  same  way  of  regeneration  by  which  we  were 
regenerated  ;  for  they  are  washed  with  water  in  the 
name  of  God  the  Father  and  Lord  of  all  things, 
and  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  "* 

There  is  another  passage  in  Justin,  which  is 
pressed  into  the  service  of  infant  baptism.  "  There 
are  many  persons  among  us  of  both  sexes,  of  sixty 
and  seventy  years  of  age,  who  were  made  dis(;iples 
of  Christ  from  their  childhood,  "f  But  to  employ 
the  passage  in  this  manner  is  not  only  to  make  the 
writer  contradict  the  Scriptures,  but  contradict  him- 
self; for  he  has  informed  us,  in  the  passage  quoted 
above,  that  disciples  are  such  as  are  "persuaded 
and  do  believe." 

With  just  as  little  reason  is  the  celebrated  passage 
of  IrenasusJ  alleged  in  support  of  this  practice.  It 
is  too  equivocal  to  constitute  the  basis  of  either  ar- 
gument or  inference.     Many  of  the  most  judicious 

■'*, 
•  Justin  Apol.  I.    Wall's  Translation. 

t  Hodges  on  Infant  Baptism,  p.  112. 

JAdv.  Her.  Lib.  XI.  c.  18. 


CHURCH   POLITT.  1^\ 

and  impartial  critics,  among  pedobaptists,  acknow- 
ledge that  it  affords  no  support  for  infant  baptism. 

Baumgarten  Crusius  says  :  "  The  celebrated  pas' 
sage  in  Irenaeus,  is  not  to  be  applied  to  infant  bap- 
tism."* 

The  earliest  allusion  to  the  practice  of  infant  bap- 
tism occurs  in  Tertullian,  A.D.  200,  and  he  opposes 
it.f  A  highly  respectable  writer  in  defence  of  infant 
baptism,  has  failed  to  appreciate  the  testimony  of  this 
Father,  in  consequence  of  following  Wall,  who  him- 
self confesses  that  he  does  not  understand  Tertulli- 
an. j  "He  had  adopted,"  says  this  writer,  "the 
strange  notion  that  baptism  washed  away  all  previ- 
ous sin,  whether  actual  or  original,  and  hence,  the 
longer  delayed,  the  better,  when  there  appeared  no 
immediate  danger  of  death."  This  strange  notion 
was  by  no  means  peculiar  to  Tertullian ;  and,  more- 
over, it  was  not  the  point  from  which  he  argued 
against  infant  baptism.  Had  Dr.  Wall,  and  those 
who  have  followed  in  his  footsteps,  studied  the  theo- 

♦  Dogmengesch.  S  1209.  So  also  Engelhardt,  Th.  1.  S. 
333.    Manscher,  2,  §  233. 

fDe  Bap.  18.  Robinson  and  Hinton,  Hist,  of  Bap.  p. 
246,  contend  that  there  is  no  reference  here  to  infant  bap- 
tism ;  but  their  argument  is  founded  upon  an  erroneous 
translation  of  the  passage.  They  render  norin<,  "  they  just 
know,"  instead  of  "let  them  know." 

J  Infant  Baptism,  &c.  By  "William  Hodges,  A.M.,  Rec- 
tor of  Bruton  Parish,  Williamsburg,  Va.  'Phila.  1844.  pp. 
87-93. 

16 


18^ 


CHUBCH    POLITY. 


logical  system  of  Tertullian,  they  would  have  been 
better  able  to  appreciate  his  position  on  this  subject. 
He  had  to  contend  with  two  opposite  parties,  the 
one  holding  that  all  persons,  even  infants,  must  be 
baptized  in  order  to  be  saved,  and  the  other,  that 
baptism  is  not  necessary  at  all,  if  one  has  sufficient 
feith.  Against  the  former,  he  contends  in  the  well- 
known  passage  referred  to  by  Wall.  His  funda- 
mental principle  on  the  subject  of  baptism,  as  stated 
by  himself,  is :  "  Baptism  is  the  seal  of  faith.  "We 
are  not  baptized  in  order  to  cease  from  sin,  but  be- 
cause our  hearts  are  already  cleansed."  *  And  he 
opposes  infant  baptism  because  it  violates  this  prin- 
ciple, by  placing  baptism  before  faith.  He,  therefore, 
insists  that  the  baptism  of  children  should  be  delayed 
until  they  are  old  enough  to  "  know  Christ."  He 
does  not  insist,  as  Wall  and  Mr.  Hodges  understood 
him,  upon  a  mere  delay  of  infant  baptism,  but 
on  the  postponement  of  baptism  until  the  subjects 
of  it  should  cease  to  be  infants.  But  his  op- 
ponents confronted  him  with  the  passage,  "Sufier 
little  children,"  &c.  From  this  we  learn  that  in- 
fant baptism  was  a  subject  of  controversy  ;  and  yet 
that  no  tradition  or  divine  command  was  pleaded  by 
TertuUian's  opponents.  Indeed,  it  deserves  particu- 
lar notice,  that  in  all  the  writings  of  Tertullian  and 
Cyprian,  both  of  whom  treat  of  the  subject  as  a 

*  De  Poeniten,  6. 


CHUKCH   POLITY.  183 

matter  of  controversy,  there  is  no  allusion  whatever 
to  an  apostolical  tradition  in  favor  of  the  practice. 
Is  it  possible  that  these  fathers  of  tradition  could 
have  overlooked  so  important  a  point  ?  As  Tertulli- 
an  devised  the  method  of  meeting  the  heretics  with 
the  authority  of  tradition,  would  his  opponents  have 
spared  him,  if  these  weapons  of  his  own  could  have 
been  employed  against  him  ?  His  judicious  reply 
to  the  passage  of  Scripture  above  quoted,  was, 
' '  Let  them  come  when  they  are  grown  up,  —  let 
them  come  when  they  understand  and  are  taught 
whither  they  come,  —  let  them  become  Christians, 
when  they  are  capable  of  knowing  Christ."  He 
vindoubtedly  carried  his  caution  too  far  in  regard  to 
virgins  and  widows  ;  still  the  principle  was  a  sound 
one,  which  required  good  evidence  of  piety  before 
baptism.* 

3.     The  judgment  of  critics  and  historians. 

In  accordance  with  the  principle  which  I  have 
assumed  as  my  guide  in  these  inquiries,  that  the 
Scriptures  constitute  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice, it  is  pertinent  to  show  that,  even  in  the  judg- 
ment of  a  large  number  of  the  abettors  of  infant 
baptism,  it  finds  no  support  in  the  Word  of  God, 
and  receives  no  countenance  from  ihQ  practice  of 
those  to  whom  the  word  of  God  was  delivered,  or 
of  their  immediate  successors. 

*  Christian  Review,  III.  p.  214. 


m 


CHURCH    POLITT. 


An  eminent  German  writer,  who  has  examined 
this  subject  with  equal  learning  and  candor,  remarks : 
"  Infant  baptism  was  not  yet  customary  in  the  first 
two  centuries.  The  proofs  which  are  alledged  for  its 
existence  in  the  apostolic  age,  from  the  mention  in 
Acts,  of  the  baptism  of  whole  families,  and  in  the 
second  century,  from  a  passage  in  Irenaeus,  in  which 
he  speaks  of  the  regeneration  of  children,  are  not 
satisfactory.  Tertullian  declared  himself,  most  ex- 
plicitly, against  it,  upon  the  ground  that  it  imposed 
too  heavy  a  responsibility  upon  the  sponsors,  and 
would  be  more  beneficial  to  the  children  themselves, 
when  they  had  arrived  at  an  age  in  which  they 
frOuM  knot?  Christ,  and  appreciate  the  importance  of 
baptism.  In  the  time  of  Origen,  however,  infiint 
baptism  was  already  customary  in  the  Church,  at 
least,  in  the  Egyptian  portion  of  it,  and  was  deemed 
an  ordinance  of  the  apostles.  Origen  vindicated  its 
necessity  on  the  same  grou.id  as  that  subsequently 
alledged  by  Augustine,  viz.  :  that  baptism  was  re- 
presented in  the  New  Testament,  as,  in  general, 
necessary  to  salvation ;  and,  therefore,  children 
ought  to  be  baptized.* 

The  celebrated  philologist  Koraes,  one  of  the  first 
Greek  scholars  of  modem  times,  says :  "  Infant 
baptism  seems  to  have  been  introduced  in  the  third 

*Engelhardt.  Dogmengeschichte.  Th.  1.  S.  333.  Er- 
langen,  1839. 


CHURCH    POLITY.  18 

century ;  at  first  only  in  Africa,  subsequently  by 
degrees  also  in  other  countries.  Not  venturing  to 
decide  upon  this  matter  we  would  only  say,  that 
even  supposing  infants  to  have  been  baptized  in  the 
apostolic  times  or  shortly  afterwards,  the  practice 
was  neither  uniformly  adopted,  nor  always  nor 
everywhere  observed.  This  is  evident  from  numer- 
ous instances  of  persons  living  in  or  about  the 
fourth  century,  who  were  not  baptized  until  after 
they  had  reached  the  age  of  manhood.  Such  was 
the  case  with  Ambrose,  Jerome,  Augustine,  Chrys- 
ostom,  Basil,  Gregory;  and  among  the  emperors 
with  Constantino,  Constantius,  Valentinian,  Gratian, 
Theodosius,  and  with  innumerable  other  persons. 
The  discourses  addressed  by  many  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  same  century  to  persons  deferring  baptism, 
prove  the  same  thing.  It  is  further  confirmed 
by  the  canons  of  several  councils,  and  also  by  the 
well-known  anecdote  of  Athanasius  the  Great,  who, 
when  a  boy,  on  a  certain  occasion  whilst  at  play, 
catechised  and  baptized  his  play-fellows,  who,  until 
then,  had  remained  unbaptized.  The  time  when 
infant  baptism  was  generally  introduced  cannot 
easily  be  determined."* 

*  Leslie's  Hist.  View  of  the  Baptists,  p.  33.  Here  we 
have  the  children  of  Christian  parents  remaining  unbap- 
tized. The  first  instance  on  record  of  the  baptism  of  a 
child,  is  that  of  Galates,  the  dying  son  of  the  Arian  empe- 

16» 


186  CHURCH    POLITY. 

"  All  the  earlier  traces  of  infant  baptism  are 
very  doubtful.  Tertullian  is  the  first  who  refers  to 
it ;  and  he  censures  it.  Origen  and  Cyprian,  on 
the  contrary,  defend  it.  In  the  fourth  century  its 
validity  was  generally  acknowledged,  although  the 
church  Fathers  often  found  it  necessary  to  warn 
against  the  delay  of  baptism.  Even  Pelagius  did 
not  dare  to  call  the  correctness  of  it  in  question, 
Augustine  pointed  out  the  removal  of  original  sin, 
and  the  sins  of  the  children,  as  its  definite  object ; 
and  through  his  representations  was  its  universal 
diflfusion  promoted."* 

"  As  baptism  signified  an  entrance  into  fellow- 
ship with  Christ,  it  readily  followed  from  the  nature 
of  the  ease,  that  a  profession  of  faith  in  Jesus  as 
the  Redeemer,  should  be  made  by  the  candidate  at 
the  time.  Since  baptism  was  thus  immediately 
connected  with  a  conscious  and  voluntary  accession 
to  the  Christian  fellowship,  and  faith  and  baptism 
were  always  united,  it  is  highly  probable  tbat  the  cus- 
tom of  infant  baptism  was  not  practised  in  this  age. 
From  the  example  of  the  baptism  of  whole  families 
we  can  by  no  means  infer  the  existence  of  infant 
baptism.     One  passage,  1  Cor.  16  :  15,  shows  the 

ror  Valens,  who  was  baptized  by  order  of  the  monarch,  who 
swore  that   he  would   not   be   contradicted.       Christian 
Review,  p.  6,  May,  1846. 
♦  Munscher  (Ed.  Von  Coin)  Dogmengeiteh.    I.  S.  469. 


CHURCH    POLITT.  187 


incorrectness  of  such  an  inference;   for  it  thence 

appears  that  the  whole  family  of  Stephanus,  who  all 

received  baptism  from  Paul,  was  composed  of  adult 

members."* 

'     "  Commands  or  plain  and  certain  examples,  in  the 

New  Testament,  relating  to  it,  I  do  not  find."t 

"  There  is  no  express  command  for  infant  baptism 
found  in  the  New  Testament- "J 

If  infant  baptism  be  thus  destitute  of  support  in 
the  word  of  God,  an  inquiry  naturally  arises  as  to 
its  origin,  and  the  reasons  for  its  introduction.  To 
this  the  observations  of  a  learned  living  historian 
furnish  a  satisfactory  reply.  "The  first  public 
recognition  of  infant  baptism  was  A.  D.  250,  It 
may  be  supposed  to  have  existed  anterior  to  that 
period,  and  to  have  been  gradually  working  its  way 
into  the  church,  along  with  other  corruptions.  But 
the  grand  error,  under  sanction  of  which  it  obtained 
prevalence,  was  that  baptism  and  regeneration  was 
one  and  the  same  thing.  So  soon  as  that  came  to 
be  a  general  belief,  it  was  deemed  necessary,  in  order 

•  Neander,  in  Bibl.  Repos.  IV.    p.  272. 

t  Prof.  Stuart,  Bibl.  Repos.  Ill,  p.  385. 

X  Knapp.  Theology,  II.  p.  535.  Storr  and  Flatt 
speak  of  the  silence  of  the  N.  T.  concerning  it.  Bibl. 
Theol.  p.  527.  See  also,  Gieseler,  Church  Hist.  I,  pp.  93,  98, 
195.  Mosheim,  I.  p.  167.  Booth  has  collected  a  host  of 
similar  witnesses,  in  his  Pedobaptism  Examined.  Part  II, 
oh.  I. 


188  CHUBCH   POLltY. 

to  insure  the  spiritual  illumination  of   infants,  to 
have  them  baptized."* 

It  thus  appears  that  the  changes  which  have  been 
introduced  since  the  age  of  the  Apostles,  with 
reference  both  to  the  subjects  and  the  mode  of 
baptism,  were  founded  upon  a  portentous  error,  the 
identity  of  baptism  and  regeneration,  and,  there- 
fore, the  necessity  of  the  rite  to  salvation.  In  im- 
mediate connection  with  this,  we  find  another  error 
of  equal  magnitude.  The  great  patron  of  affusion 
and  infant  baptism,  Cyprian,  furnishes  the  first  dis- 
tinct allusion  to  a  practice,  the  existence  of  which 
would  scarcely  be  deemed  credible,  were  it  not  most 
amply  attested,  the  communion  of  infants  at  the 
Lord's  supper.  This  practice  was  coextensive  with 
infant  baptism,  and  rested  upon  the  same  grounds, 
the  necessity  of  the  rite  to  salvation.  "  It  was  com- 
mon in  Africa  in  Cyprian's  time,  i.  e.  in  the  third 
century,  to  give  the  sacramental  elements  even 
to  children;  and  this  custom  was  gradually  intro- 
duced into  other  churches.  But  in  the  twelfth 
century  this  practice  fell  into  disuse  in  the  West ; 

*  Neander,  Hist.  Chr.  Religion,  p.  361.  So,  also,  Meier, 
Dogmengesch,  S.  132.  Giessen,  1840.  Mosheim,  I,  p.  230. 
Gieseler,  T,  p.  159,  note  4.  "  If  we  except  TertuUian," 
says  Wall,  "  Vincentius  (A,  D.  419)  is  the  first  man  upon 
record  that  ever  said  that  children  might  be  saved  without 
baptism."    Booth,  Pedobap.  Exam.    P.  II,  ch.  3,  {  8, 


CHURCH    POLITY.  189 

althongh  in  the  East  it  continues  to  the  present 
day,"* 

Infant  baptism  and  infant  communion  rest  on  tho 
same  foundation,  the  authority  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
third  century. 

m.     Efficacy  of  baptism. 

On  this  point,  professors  of  Christianity  are  divid- 
ed into  three  great  parties,  the  first  of  which  regards 
baptism  as  an  act  of  obedience  to  Christ,  and  a 
symbol,  or  sign  of  certain  truths  implied  in  the  ordi- 
nance ;  the  second,  as  a  seal  or  pledge  of  spiritual 
blessings ;  while  the  third  exalts  it  to  the  dignity  of 
an  efficacious  instrument  of  grace,  some  ascribing  to 
it  a  physical,  and  others  only  a  hyperphysical,  or 
moral  efficacy.!  Of  these  various  theories,  the 
second  and  third  are  unscriptural,  and  besides,  are 
encumbered  with  other  serious  objections ;  so  that 
ah  elucidation  of  the  grounds  upon  which  the  first  is 
sustained,  will  fiimish  their  appropriate  refutation. 

The  Scriptures  no  where  ascribe  to  baptism  any 

♦  Knapp,  Theology,  II.  p.  555.  Mosheim,  I.  p.  230.  §  3, 
note.  Gieseler.I.  p.  159.  Monscher  (Ed.  Von  Coin),  I.  S. 
481.  Meir,  §  68.  S.  163.  Hinton,  Hist.  Bap.  pp.  323-330. 
Chillingworth,  Works,  p.  744.    Phila.  1841. 

t  Turrettini  Op.  Loc.  XVIII.  Qusest.  8.  MOnscher,  (Ed. 
Neudecker)  III.  S.  601-628.  Hinton,  Hist.  Bap.  chap.  X. 
"  Baptism  is  the  divinely  appointed  form  of  ratifying  God's 
covenant  of  grace  with  every  believer  .  . .  and  is  in  its  na- 
ture a  pledge,  on  his  part,  of  spiritual  blessings,"  &c. 
Crowell,  Ch.  Mem.  Manual,  p.  152. 


190  CHURCH    POLITY. 

peculiar  efficacy,  physical  or  moral,  essential  or  ac- 
cidental. It  is  simply  the  appointed  method  of  pro- 
fessing faith  in  the  Redeemer ;  and  if,  in  some 
places,  a  preeminence  is  given  to  it  over  other  acts 
of  obedience,  it  is  because  it  is  the  first  of  a  series 
which  are  incumbent  on  the  believer.  ' '  That  bap- 
tism and  the  Lord's  Supper  are  seals  of  the  covenant, 
is  a  doctrine  so  common ,  and  a  phraseology  so  establish- 
ed, that  it  is  received  without  question  as  a  first 
principle.  They  who  measure  truth  by  the  attain- 
ments of  our  ancestors,  look  upon  the  questioning 
of  this  dogma  as  a  kind  of  impiety  and  heresy ; 
and  even  the  modern  Independents,  who  have  pro- 
fessed to  be  guided  solely  by  the  Bible,  have  very 
generally  continued  to  speak  in  the  same  language. 
While  I  highly  respect  and  value  the  ancient  writers 
who  speak  in  this  manner,  I  strongly  protest  against 
it  as  unscriptural,  and  as  laying  a  foundation  for  re- 
ceiving other  things  on  the  authority  of  man.  Is 
there  any  Jewish  tradition  more  void  of  scriptural 
authority,  than  that  which  designates  baptism  and 
the  Lord's  Supper  seals  of  the  New  Covenant  ? 
There  is  not  in  the  New  Testament  any  single  por- 
tion that  can  bear  such  a  meaning.  And  what  can 
the  wisest  of  men  know  about  these  things,  but 
what  God  has  told  us  ?  He  has  not  said  that  bap- 
tism is  a  seal.  Circumcision  was  a  seal  of  the  right/- 
eousness  of  the  faith  of  Abraham.     This  was  God's 


CHURCH    POLITY. 


191 


seal  to  that  truth,  till  the  letter  was  abolished.  The 
spirit  of  the  truth  is  the  seal,  and  the  circumcisioD  of 
the  heart  by  him,  is  the  thing  signified  by  cir- 
cumcision in  the  flesh.  The  circumcised  nation  was 
typical  of  the  Church  of  Christ;  for  the  apostle 
says  "we  are  the  circumcision  which  worship  Grod 
in  the  spirit;"  and  "circumcision  is  that  of  the 
heart,  in  the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  letter."  The 
circumcision  of  the  Jews  was  the  letter,  of  which 
the  circumcision  of  the  heart  in  Christians  is  the 
spirit.  The  Christian,  then,  has  a  more  exalted  seal 
than  circumcision.  He  has  the  Spirit  of  God, 
"  whereby  he  is  sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption." 
Eph.  4  :  30.  When  sinners  believe  in  Christ, 
they  are  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise, 
which  is  the  "  earnest  of  their  inheritance  until  the 
redemption  of  the  purchased  possession."  Eph.  1  : 
13.  The  seal,  then,  that  comes  in  the  room  of  cir- 
cumcision, is  the  seal  of  the  Spirit.  When  the  Holy 
Spirit  himself,  in  the  heart  of  the  believer,  is  the 
seal  of  God's  truth,  there  is  no  need  of  any  other 
seal.  Baptism  represents  the  belief  of  the  truth 
in  a  figure,  and  takes  it  for  granted  that  they  are 
believers  to  whom  it  is  applied ;  but  it  is  no  seal  of 
this.  They  may  appear  to  be  Christians  to-day,  and 
therefore  ought  to  be  baptized ;  to-morrow  they  may 
prove  the  contrary,  and  therefore  they  cannot  have 


XQM  OHCRCH    POIilTT. 

been  sealed  by  baptism.     He  that  is  once  sealed  by 
the  Spirit,  is  secured  to  eternity."  * 

This  theory,  although  unscriptural,  is,  except  in 
its  application  to  infant  baptism,  comparatively 
harmless,  since  it  supposes  the  existence  of  such 
spiritual  qualifications  in  the  baptized,  as  are  con- 
nected with  the  enjoyment  of  spiritual  blessings. 
But  the  third  theory  is  open  to  more  serious  objec- 
tions; for,  although  various  representations  of  it 
are  given  by  its  different  advocates,  it  involves,  as 
its  distinctive  principle,  the  assumption  that  bap- 
tism sustains  a  direct  relation  to  the  germination 
and  growth  of  the  divine  life  in  the  soul ;  and  is, 
therefore,  in  general,  necessary  to  salvation.  Wheth- 
er this  ordinance  be  described  as  the  laver  of 
regeneration,  the  bath  in  which  original  sin  is  wash- 
ed away,  or  tbe  medium  through  which  forgiveness 
of  sin,  and  the  influences  of  the  Spirit  are  imparted, 
the  radical  idea  of  the  theory  is  the  same.  It  makes 
the  acceptance  of  a  sinner  with  God,  in  some  way 
dependent  upon  his  reception  of  baptisni.  But  if 
the  Scriptures  furnish  us  with  such  a  statement  of 
the  ground  of  a  sinner's  acceptance  as  excludes  bap- 
tism, as  well  as  all  other  works,  the  entire  theory  is 
false.  That  this  is  the  case,  I  shall  endeavor  to 
show. 


•  Caxson,  on  Baptism,  pp.  375-377.    Georgia  Pulpit,  p. 
142. 


CHUKCH    POLITY.  193 

With  respect  to  the  plan  of  salvation,  the  Scrip- 
tures are  sufficiently  explicit.  They  teach  that  the 
ground  of  a  sinner's  acceptance  with  God,  is  not 
any  thing  done  by  hira,  or  in  him,  but  is  the  perfect 
work  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  As  the  substitute 
of  guilty  man,  he  has  met  all  the  claims  of  the  di- 
vine government  against  him,  has  obeyed  the  law, 
and  suffered  its  penalty ;  and  has  thus  brought  in 
an  everlasting  righteousness,  which  is  imputed  to 
the  believer  for  justification.  As  soon  as  a  sinner 
truly  believes,  he  is  justified,  accepted,  and  his  final 
salvation  secured.  Faith  sustains  this  peculiar  re- 
lation to  justification,  that  it  appropriates  Him  who 
is  our  righteousness.  It  is,  therefore,  essential  to  our 
acceptance  with  God ;  but  nothing  else  is.  To  make 
baptism  thus  essential,  which  is  not  the  act  by  which 
we  trust  in  Christ,  but  simply  an  act  of  obedience 
rendered  by  one  already  justified,  is  to  confound  the 
consequent  with  the  antecedent;  to  mistake  the 
symbolical  expression  of  a  believer's  love  to  Christ 
on  account  of  the  remission  of  sin  —  a  love  which 
manifests  itself  effectually  by  keeping  his  command- 
ments —  for  the  medium  through  which  that  remis- 
sion is  conferred. 

That  this  is  the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures  on  this 

subject,  is  evinced  by  the  following,  among  many 

passages  :     "He  that  believeth  hath  everlasting 

life."   John  6 :  24 ;  3  :  16,  36.    "  With  the  heart 

17 


194  CHUKCU    POLITV. 

man  believeth  unto  righteousness."  Rom.  10  :  10. 
"  By  grace  are  ye  saved  through  faith."  Eph.  2 : 
8.  "  Being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with 
God,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Rom.  6  : 
1.  "They  which  are  of  faith,  the  same  are  the 
children  of  Abraham."  Gal.  3:7.  "  The  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." 
1  John  1:8.  "  Ye  are  all  the  children  of  God  by 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ."  Gal.  3  :  26.  cf.  John  5  : 
24;  Acts  13  :  39  ;  Rom.  3  :  21,  22,  25,  26;  4  : 
5;  10:  4;  Phil,  3:  8-10;  John  1 :  12;  Acts 
10:  42;  John  3:  14-18,  40;  20:  31;  Rom. 
10:  9. 

The  case  of  the  Philippian  jailer  is  decisive  on 
this  point.  His  inquiry  had  distinct  reference  to 
the  plan  of  salvation.  He  came,  a  convicted  sinner, 
to  Paul  and  Silas,  and  sought  direction.  "Sirs, 
what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  1  "  Had  they  omitted 
in  their  reply  anything  essential,  they  would  have 
misled  the  inquiring  jailer.  The  circumstances 
of  the  case  demanded  that  they  should  comprehend 
in  their  instructions  all  that  was  necessary  to  salva- 
tion. But  they  simply  say  :  "  Believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,  and  thy 
house."  Acts  16  :  31.  The  absence  of  any  refer- 
ence to  baptism  here  shows  that,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  apostles,  it  has  no  reference  to  that  primary 


CHURCH   POLITY.  195 

act  of  faith,  by  which  a  penitent  obtains  the  forgive- 
ness of  sin. 

From  these  considerations,  and  others  which  will 
be  adduced,  it  is  evident  that  the  theory  which  sus- 
pends the  remission  of  sin  upon  the  reception  of 
baptism,  is  contrary  to  the  first  principle  of  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ. 

Another  fatal  objection  to  this  theory,  is  found  in 
the  fact  that  cases  occur,  in  the  New  Testament,  of 
persons  who  received  the  assurance  of  forgiveness 
prior  to  baptism.  Among  these,  are  the  woman 
who  was  a  sinner,  the  sick  of  the  palsy,  and  the 
dying  malefactor.*  Moreover,  it  is  contradicted  by 
Christian  experience.  Every  converted  man  knows 
that  the  assurance  of  forgiveness  is  obtained  by 
faith  in  Christ.  Thousands  of  such  have  been 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  have  rejoiced 
in  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  afterwards 
put  on  Christ  in  baptism,  not  to  obtain  remission  of 
sin,  but  because  they  had  already  been  assured  of 
possessing  that  blessing,  and  without  which  they 
would  not  have  ventured  to  approach  the  emblematic 
grave.  They  were  conscious  of  being  constrained 
to  do  this  by  love  to  the  Redeemer ;  and  they  re- 
joiced in  the  consolation  that  "  every  one  that  loveth 
is  bom  of  God  and  knoweth  God,"  and  "  whosoever 

*  Luke  7 :  37-48.    Matt.  9 :  2.     Luke  23 :  39-43. 


196  CHURCH    POLITY. 

is  bom  of  God  overcometh  the  world."  *  In  addi- 
tion to  this  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  most  conscientious  and  devoted  servants 
of  God,  in  every  part  of  the  world,  are,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  some  of  the  most  strenuous  advocates  of 
this  theory,  yet  unbaptized,  and,  therefore,  must  re- 
main unpardoned.  They  are  yet  in  their  sins. 
They  have  no  hope  in  Christ,  no  assurance  of  accept- 
ance with  God,  and  dying  in  this  state,  they  must 
encounter  his  wrath  in  the  world  to  come.  A  theo- 
ry which  involves  such  shocking  sentiments,  as  its 
legitimate  consequences,  which  comes  so  directly  in 
conflict  with  Christian  consciousness,  must  be  a 
false  and  unwarrantable  assumption. 

If  any  thing  further  were  neccessary  to  expose  the 
falsity  of  this  theory,  we  might  refer  to  Paul's  view 
of  the  relative  importance  of  baptism.  As  a  preach- 
er of  the  Gospel,  he  exulted  in  his  mission ;  for  the 
gospel  is  the  power  of  God  to  salvation,  to  every  one 
that  believeth.  Rom.  1  :  16.  In  1  Cor.  1 :  17, 
he  says:  "  Christ  sent  me  not  to  baptize,  but  to 
preach  the  gospel."  But  in  Acts  26  :  17,  18,  he 
affirms  that  "  Christ  sent  him  to  the  Gentiles,  to 
turn  them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the 
power  of  Satan  unto  God  ;  "  in  other  words,  to  ac- 
complish their  salvation.  If  baptism  sustains  the 
relation  to  salvation  which  is  ascribed  to  it  by  this 

•  1  John  4 :  7  ;  6 :  4. 


CHURCH    POLITY.  197 

theory,  the  manner  in  which  the  apostle  underrates 
it,  is  utterly  unaccountable.  If  the  ordinance  were 
indispensable,  in  general,  to  secure  remission  of  sin, 
he  could  not  have  affirmed  that  Christ  sent  him  not 
to  baptize  ;  for  upon  that  supposition  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel,  without  baptism,  would  be  a  nullity. 
It  would  fail  to  accomplish  the  great  end  for  which 
the  Son  of  God  was  exalted  as  a  Prince  and  a  Sa- 
viour.    Acts  5:  31. 

Although  this  theory  is  thus  subversive  of  the 
terms  of  acceptance  with  God,  and  opposed  to  Chris- 
tian consciousness,  its  abettors  labor  to  sustain  it 
from  the  word  of  God,  referring  to  several  passages 
in  its  support.  Before  examining  them,  it  may  be 
well  to  make  the  general  remark,  that  if  they  incul- 
cated the  error  in  question,  the  interpreter  would 
find  it  impossible  to  reconcile  them  with  other  por- 
tions, as  well  as  with  the  general  tenor  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. Unless,  therefore,  he  would  place  divine 
truth  in  conflict  with  itself,  he  must  resort  to  some 
other  interpretation  of  these  passages.  It  would  be 
better  to  leave  them  unexplained  than  to  elicit  from 
them  a  sentiment  so  essentially  at  war  with  the 
whole  Christian  system.  But  these  passages,  so  far 
from  presenting  any  real  difficulty,  are  susceptible, 
most  easily  and  naturally,  of  an  interpretation  which 
keeps  them  in  harmony  with  the  doctrine  of  the 
apostles. 

17* 


198  OHUBCH    POLITT. 

These  passages  will  now  be  adduced. 

Mark  16  :  16.  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized 
shall  be  saved ;  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be 
damned. 

The  nature  of  these  restrictions  will  be  sufficiently 
clear,  if  we  consider  that  faith,  implying  of  course 
regeneration,  is  the  first  development  of  spiritual 
life  in  the  soul,  and  baptism  is  its  first  outward  mani- 
festation. As  soon  as  a  sinner  believes,  he  is  to 
confess  Christ  in  this  ordinance.  This  is  his  first 
act  of  obedience.  It  is  therefore  perfectly  natural 
that  baptism  should  be  selected  from  the  various 
Christian  duties,  as  the  representative  of  the  whole. 
The  meaning  of  the  passage,  therefore,  is,  he  that 
believes  and  acts  accordingly  —  who  possesses  that 
genuine  faith  which  works  by  love,  and  purifies  the 
heart  —  shall  be  saved.  The  language  of  the  com- 
mission, when  properly  explained,  attaches  no  more 
importance  to  baptism  than  to  any  other  Christian 
duty.  It  is  the  spirit  of  obedience  which  it  demands ; 
and  baptism  is  indicated  as  the  expression  of  that 
spirit,  because  it  stands  first  in  the  series  of  Christian 
duties.  In  perfect  accordance  with  these  sentiments 
is  the  teaching  of  Paul,  in  Rom.  10 :  10.  "If 
thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart  that  God  hath 
raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved.  For 
with  the  heart  man   believeth   unto  righteousness 


CHURCH    POLITY.  199 

[justification],  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is 
made  unto  salvation."  The  apostle  in  this  portion 
of  the  epistle  contrasts  the  method  of  justification 
on  which  the  Jews  insisted,  which  was  legal,  and, 
when  properly  understood,  perfectly  impracticable, 
with  the  gospel  method  of  salvation,  which  pre- 
scribes no  such  severe  terms,  but  simply  requires 
cordial  faith  and  open  profession.  Confession  is  the 
fruit  and  external  evidence  of  faith,  assuring  us  of 
its  vitality  and  power,  as  wrought  by  the  Spirit  of 
God.  "  No  man  can  say  that  Jesus  is  the  Lord  but 
by  the  Holy  Ghost."  1  Cor.  12:  3.  "Whosoever 
shall  confess  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God,  God 
dwelleth  in  him  and  he  in  God-"  1  John,  4  :  15. 
Hence  the  necessity  of  a  public  confession  of 
Christ  unto  salvation  is  asserted  in  the  Scriptures. 
Matt.  10  :  32.  Luke,  12  :  8.  It  is  certain  that  he 
who  deliberately  refuses  to  confess  Christ  will  be 
lost,  because  this  refusal  proves  that  he  possesses  no 
genuine  faith  ;  but  this  confession  may  be  made 
fully  and  clearly  prior  to  baptism,  and,  as  in  the  case 
of  dying  penitents!  without  the  intervention  of  bap- 
tism at  all.  "Though  faith  and  confession  are  both 
necessary"  observes  an  able  expositor,  "  they  are 
not  necessary  on  the  same  grounds,  nor  to  the  same 
degree.  The  former  is  necessary  as  a  means  to  an 
end,  as  without  faith  we  can  have  no  part  in  the 
justifying  righteousness  of  Christ ;    the  latter  as  a 


200  CHURCH    POMTY. 

duty,  the  performance  of  which  circumstances  may 
render  impracticable.  In  like  manner  Christ 
declares  baptism,  as  the  appointed  means  of  con- 
fession, to  be  necessary ;  not  however  as  a  sine  qua 
non,  but  as  a  command,  the  obligation  of  which 
providential  dispensations  may  remove ;  as  in  the 
case  of  the  thief  on  the  cross."* 

John  3:5.  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water 
and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

Nothing  but  an  invincible  necessity  would  author- 
ize such  an  interpretation  of  this  passage  as  would 
elicit  from  it  the  doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration. 
This  necessity  does  not  exist.  Many  of  the  most 
learned  and  judicious  commentators  interpret  the 
expression  water  and  the  spirit,  by  hendiadis, 
spiritual  water.  This  mode  of  expression  is  com- 
mon in  the  New  Testament.  Comp.  Matt.  4  :  16. 
In  the  region  and  shadow  of  death,  i.  e.  the  region 
of  the  shadow  of  death.  1  Cor.  2:4.  In  the 
demonstration  of  the  powerful  spirit.  Col.  2 :  8. 
Acts,  17  :  25. t  This  interpretation  is  confirmed 
by  the  fact  that  our  Lord,  in  contrasting  spiritual 
with  natural  regeneration,  in  the  next  verse,  does 
not  mention  water  at  all,  but  merely  opposes   the 

*  Hodge  on  Romans,  p.  436. 

t  Grotius  in  loco.  Calvin,  Winer,  Teller.  See  also  Dr. 
Dagg's  detailed  examination  of  the  passage,  Phila.  1839. 


CHURCH   POLITY.  201 

spirit  to  the  flesh,  as  the  original  principles  of  these 
different  kinds  of  birth.  If,  however,  Christ  be 
supposed  to  refer  to  baptism,  it  must  be  under  the 
same  restrictions  that  are  found  in  the  apostolic 
commission,  which  has  already  been  explained. 

Acts,  2  :  38.  Eepent  and  be  baptized  every  one 
of  you  for  the  remission  of  sins,  [or,  literally,  unto 
the  remission.] 

This  clause  is  easily  understood  by  comparing  it 
with  others  of  similar  construction.  John  says,  in 
Matt.  3  :  11,  "I  baptize  you  with  water  unto 
repentance."  He  did  not  mean  that  repentance  was 
procured,  but  was  professed,  in  baptism ;  for  he 
demanded  of  those  who  approached  the  baptismal 
stream  "fruits  meet  for  repentance,"  the  evidence 
that  they  had  already  repented.  But  Peter  has 
given  us  his  own  views,  in  Acts  3:19.  "  Repent 
ye  therefore  and  be  converted,  that  your  sins  may 
be  blotted  out,"  &c.  If  baptism  is  as  inseparable 
from  forgiveness  as  repentance  is,  the  apostle  is 
guilty  of  an  unpardonable  omission.  If  he  has 
made  no  omission,  but  has  stated  fully  the  conditions 
of  pardon,  the  dogma  in  question  receives  no  sup- 
port from  his  authority. 

Acts  22  :  16.  Arise  and  be  baptized  and  wash 
away  thy  sins,  calUng  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

As  baptism  is  symbolical  of  the  purification  of  the 
soul,  it  is  perfectly  natural,  because  in  accordance 


202  CHUECH   POLITT. 

with  a  very  common  mode  of  speech,  that  the  symbol 
should  be  put  for  the  reality.  Paul  may  be  said  to 
have  washed  away  his  sins  in  baptism,  because  in 
that  sacred  rite  he  made  a  public  declaration  of  the 
fact.  If  this  passage  stood  alone,  it  might  occasion 
some  diflSculty,  but  taken  in  connection  with  the 
uniform  teaching  of  the  word  of  Grod,  which  suspends 
forgiveness  of  sin  upon  the  exercise  of  faith  in  the 
Redeemer,  it  affords  no  countenance  to  the  dogma 
of  baptismal  regeneration.* 

*  For  the  various  forms  in  which  this  dogma  is  held,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Hinton  on  Baptism,  chap.  8. 10  ;  Howell 
on  Communion,  chap.  XII. ;  Ferdinand  Walter,  Lehrbuch 
des  Kirchenrechts  (Bonn.  1839),  §  274,  Landis'  Review  of 
Cambellism,  in  Biblical  Repository  (new  series),  vol  1,  to- 
gether with  Mr.  Campbell's  reply,  in  the  same  work.  Bap- 
tist Preacher,  vol.  2,  sermon  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Jeter.  The  Con- 
fessions of  Faith  of  the  various  denominations.  The  view 
of  the  Baptists  is  thus  set  forth  in  the  Baptist  Catechism : 
Charleston,  S.  C,  1813,  a  work  originally  published  by  the 
Baptists  of  Great  Britain,  A.D.  1689,  and  adopted  by  the 
Philadelphia  Association,  in  1742,  "  Quest.  97.  What  is 
Baptism  ?  Ans.  Baptism  is  an  ordinance  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, instituted  by  Jesus  Christ,  to  be  unto  the  party 
baptized  a  sign  of  his  fellowship  with  him,  in  his  death, 
and  burial,  and  resurrection,  of  his  being  ingrafted  into 
him,  of  remission  of  sins,  and  of  his  giving  himself  up  unto 
God,  through  Jesus  Christ,  to  live  and  walk  in  newness  of 
life." 


CHAPTER  XV. 


THE    LORD  S    SUPPER. 


Our  blessed  Lord,  on  the  night  preceding  his  cruci- 
fixion, instituted  a  solemn  memorial  of  his  death,  to 
be  religiously  observed  by  his  followers,  until  the 
end  of  time.  To  this  the  apostle  refers  in  the  fol- 
lowing words :  "I  have  received  of  the  Lord  that 
which  I  also  delivered  unto  you,  that  the  Lord 
Jesus,  the  same  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed, 
took  bread :  And  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he 
brake  it,  and  said.  Take,  eat,  this  is  my  body, 
which  is  broken  for  you  :  this  do  in  remembrance  of 
me.  After  the  same  manner  also  he  took  the  cup, 
when  he  had  supped,  saying.  This  cup  is  the  New 
Testament  in  my  blood  :  this  do  ye,  as  oft  as  ye 
drink  it,  in  remembrance  of  me.  For  as  often  as 
ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  shew 
the  Lord's  death  till  he  come."  *  The  nature  and 
the  perpetuity  of  this  ordinance  are  here  expressly 
declared ;  and  as  the  apostles  were  instructed  to 
teach  the  churches  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever 
Christ  had  commanded  them,t  the   death   of  the 

•  1  Cor.  11  :  23-26;  cf.  Matt,  26,  Luke  21,  Mark  15. 
t  Matt  28  :  20. 


204  CHURCH   POLITT. 

Redeemer  was  universally  commemorated  among 
them  in  this  manner. 

The  titles  by  which  this  service  is  known  in  the 
Scriptures  are  these  :  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  Lord's 
Table,  the  Communion  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ,  the  New  Testament  in  his  Blood,  the  Break- 
ing of  Bread,  and  the  Eucharist.  Ecclesiastical 
writers  have  referred  to  it,  under  other  appellations, 
as  the  sacrament,  the  mass ;  but  these  are  not  to  be 
found  in  the  word  of  God.* 

1.  The  nature  and  design  of  the  ordinance. 

It  is  simply  commemorative,  and  might  be  styled 
a  symbolical  sermon  on  the  death  of  the  Redeemer. 
"  The  Lord's  Supper  was  not  appointed  to  be  a  test 
of  brotherly  love  among  the  people  of  God.  It  was 
intended  to  teach  and  exhibit  the  most  interesting  of 
all  truths,  and  the  most  wonderful  of  all  transac- 
tions. The  design  of  the  great  institutor  was,  that 
it  should  be  a  memorial  of  God's  love  to  us,  and  of 
Immanuel's  death  for  us ;  that,  the  most  astonishing 
favor  ever  displayed ;  this,  the  most  stupendous  fact 
that  angels  ever  beheld."!  The  erroneous  notion  that 
this  ordinance  furnishes  a  test  of  Christian  fellow- 
ship, is  founded  on  a  misinterpretation  of  the  lan- 

•  Picteti  Theologia  Christiana,  Lib.  XIV.,  cap.  5.  Tur- 
rettini  Theol.  Elenc,  Loc.  XIX.  Quaest.  21.  Opera.  III. 
p.  359.    New  York,  1847. 

t  Booth,  Vindication,  sec.  1.  Howell  on  Communion,  p. 
105,  Phila.  A.  B.  P,  S.  1847. 


CHUECH   POLIXy.  206 

guage  of  Paul,  1  Cor.  10  :  16.  "  The  cup  of 
blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of 
the  blood  of  Christ  ?  The  bread  which  we  break, 
is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ?" 
The  apostle  is  here  urging  his  brethren  to  "flee 
from  idolatry;"  and  his  argument  is  as  follows  : 
He  who  partakes  of  the  elements  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  indicates,  by  that  act,  his  conununion  or  con- 
nexion with  Christ :  so  also,  he  who  eats  of  the  sacri- 
fices oflfered  to  idols,  places  himself  in  communion  with 
idols.  The  two  things  are  therefore  inconsistent.  * '  I 
would  not  that  ye  should  have  fellowship  with 
devils.  Ye  cannot  drink  the  cup  of  the  Lord,  and 
the  cup  of  devils :  ye  cannot  be  partakers  of  the 
Lord's  table,  and  of  the  table  of  devils."  The 
passage  refers  to  fellowship  with  Christ,  and  not 
with  each  other,  and  furnishes  additional  proof  that 
the  design  of  the  ordinance  is  to  "  shew  the  Lord's 
death."  * 

It  is  one  of  the  enormous  figments  of  Popery,  that, 
in  the  Lord's  Supper,  "  Christ  is  truly  present,  and 
indeed  in  such  a  way,  that  Almighty  God,  who  was 
pleased  at  Cana,  in  Galilee,  to  convert  water  into 
wine,  changes  the  inward  substance  of  the  conse- 
crated bread  and  wine  into  the  body  and  blood  of 

•  Tliis  was  the  view  of  the  older  Baptists.    See  the  Bap- 
tist Catechistii  (London,  1689),  Quest.  102. 

18 


206  CHURCU   P01.it  i". 

Christ."  *  This  is  the  doctrine  of  transubstantia- 
tion.  Its  gross  absurdity  is  manifest  both  from  rea- 
son and  from  Scripture.  It  is  contradicted  by  the 
clear  and  undisputable  testimony  of  our  senses, 
which  aflEirm  that  no  change  has  occurred  in  the 
nature  and  properties  of  the  bread  and  wine.  Con- 
fidence in  the  evidence  of  the  senses  is  a  law  of  our 
nature.  If  it  is  to  be  rejected,  the  Bible  must  be 
rejected  with  it,  for  our  belief  of  the  Scriptures 
rests  upon  the  evidence  of  the  senses,  t  This  dogma 
is  opposed  to  the  universal  observation  of  mankind, 
that  all  bodies  (material  substances,)  must  occupy 
definite  portions  of  space,  and  cannot  be  in  more 
than  one  place  at  the  same  time  ;  for  according  to 
this  tenet,  every  portion  of  consecrated  bread  is 
really  the  whole  material  body  of  the  Saviour. 
His  body  is  therefore  present  in  Heaven  and  in 
many  different  places  on  the  earth,  at  the  same 
moment.  Again,  the  bread  and  wine,  after  they 
are  consecrated,  are  subject  to  decomposition,  which 
would  not  be  the  case  if  they  were  transmuted  into 
the  glorified  body  of  the  Redeemer.  They  remain, 
what  the  apostle  calls  them,  even  after  their  conse- 
cration, bread  and  wine.  J 

*  Mohlcr,  Sj-mbolism,  p.  311. 

t  1  Jno.  1:3;  Jno.  3:11;  Luke  24  :  29. 

X  1  Cor.  10  :  16 ;  11  :  26.  Carson  on  Transubstantiation, 
Protestant  Quarterly  Review.  I.  p.  137—178,  a  most  masterly 
argument.    Storr  and  Flatt,  Bibl.  Theol.  p.  545. 


CHURCH    POLITY.  207 

So  far  as  this  monstrous  dogma  pretends  to  any 
support  from  the  Scriptures,  it  rests  upon  the  literal 
interpretation  of  expressions  which  are  manifestly 
figurative.  The  words,  "  this  is  my  body,"  are  sup- 
posed to  affirm  the  actual  presence  of  Christ's  body 
in  the  elements  of  the  eucharist.  But  Christ  also  says, 
"  I  am  the  vine,  the  way,  the  door,"  &c.  When, 
therefore,  he  affirms  of  the  bread,  "  this  is  my  body," 
we  have  his  own  authority  for  understanding  him  to 
teach  us  that  the  bread  is  the  sign  or  symbol  of  his 
body.  No  maxim  of  common  sense  is  more  plain ,  than 
that  language  must  be  interpreted  figuratively,  when- 
ever a  literal  interpretation  would  teach  an  absurdity. 
This  principle  is  recognized  by  the  heathen  in  a  case 
parallel  with  this.  "When,"  says  Cicero,  "we 
call  fruits,  Ceres,  and  wine,  Bacchus,  we  employ 
the  language  of  common  life  ;  for  who  is  so  stupid 
as  to  suppose  that  what  he  eats  is  God?"*  It 
was,  also,  applied  to  the  interpretation  of  this  ex- 
pression of  our  Lord  by  the  earliest  Fathers,  f 

Upon  this  sandy  foundation  the  papacy  rears  its 
portentous  doctrine  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  for 
the  living  and  the  dead,  by  which  Christ  is  dishon- 
ored and  the  Man  of  Sin  exalted ;  a  doctrine  which 

♦  Nat.  Deor,  III.  16. 

t  TertuUian,  Lib.  IV.  contra  Marc.  Hoc  est  corpus  meum 
id  est  figura  corporis  mei.  August.  Epist.  ad  Adimant.  cap. 
12,  signum  daret  corporis  sui.  Vid  Picteti  Theol.  Lib. 
XIV.  cap.  6,  7. 


208  CHURCH    POLITY. 

contradicts  the  testimony  of  the  earliest  and  purest 
witnesses  to  the  truth,  and  totally  subverts  the 
glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God.  * 

In  consequence  of  the  exaggerated  notion  of  the 
holiness  of  the  consecrated  elements,  transmuted  as 
they  were  into  the  real  body,  blood,  and  divinity  of 
the  Lord,  the  practice  was  introduced  of  withholding 
the  cup  from  the  laity,  and  thus  mutilating  the  or- 
dinance, contrary  to  the  divine  command  :  "  Drink 
ye  all,  of  it."  With  respect  to  the  perpetrators  of 
this  impious  assault  upon  an  institution  of  Christ,  it 
is  said,  by  a  sophistical  advocate  of  Rome  :  "  A 
pious  dread  of  desecrating  by  spilling  and  the  like, 
even  in  the  most  conscientious  ministration,  the 
form  of  the  sublimest  and  the  holiest,  whereof  the 
participation  can  be  vouchsafed  to  man,  was  the  feel- 
ing which  swayed  their  minds."  f  Upon  such  slight 
pretences  do  men  venture  to  annul  a  divine  statute. 

The  Scriptural  doctrine  on  this  subject  is,  that 
"  worthy  receivers  outwardly  partaking  of  the  visible 

*  For  the  history  of  Transubstantiation  and  its  affiliated 
errors,  which  are  of  comparatively  recent  origin,  vide  Mun- 
scher  Dogmengesohichte.  (Ed.  Von  Coin,  ^  103,  104,  142— 
145.  Knapp,  Theol.  II.  $  146).  The  Protestant's  Evidence, 
by  Simon  Birckbek,  p.  37-  London,  1635.  Bowling,  Hist. 
Romanism,  pp.  192,  etc.  Gibbon,  Rom.  Emp.  IV.  p.  160, 
who  says  :  "  Innocent  III.  may  boast  of  the  two  most  sig- 
nal triumphs  over  sense  and  reason :  the  establishment  of 
transubstantiation,  and  the  origin  of  the  inquisition  " 

t  Mohler,  Symbolism,  p.  322. 


CHORCH    POLITY.  209 

elements  in  this  ordinance,  do  then  also  inwardly 
by  faith,  really  and  indeed,  yet  not  carnally  and 
corporally,  but  spiritually,  receive  and  feed  upon 
Christ  crucified,  and  all  the  benefits  of  his  death  : 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  being  then  not  cor- 
porally or  carnally,  but  spiritually  present  to  the 
faith  of  believers  in  that  ordinance,  as  the  elements 
themselves  are  to  the  outward  senses."* 

2.  The  communicants. 

The  Lord's  Supper  is  a  social  ordinance,  and  is 
celebrated  by  a  church  in  its  distinctive  character,  as 
a  body  of  baptized  believers.  Whatever,  therefore, 
determines  the  conditions  of  membership,  defines 
also  the  terms  of  communion.  That  baptism  is 
prior  to  the  supper,  in  the  order  of  their  observance, 
and,  therefore,  that  only  the  baptized  have  a  right 
to  commune,  is  so  unquestionably  the  teaching  of 
the  Word  of  God,  and  was  so  manifestly  the  prac- 
tice of  the  primitive  churches,  that  we  are  not  sur 
prised  at  the  almost  universal  agreement  of  Chris- 
tians on  this  point.  The  splendor  of  a  great  name 
may,  for  a  time,  give  prominence  to  the  opposite 
error,  which  inverts  the  order  of  the  rites ;  and  a 
spurious  charity  may  plead  for  its  adoption ;  but  the 
subject  is  too  plain  to  admit  of  much  diversity  of 
sentiment  or  practice.  It  has,  indeed,  scarcely  ever 
been  deemed  worthy  of  a  labored  discussion.     All 

*  Baptist  Confession  of  Faith,  Chap.  XXXI.  §  7. 
18* 


210  CHURCH    POLITY. 

the  professed  followers  of  the  Redeemer,  in  all  ages, 
with  the  exception  of  a  very  small  minority,  have 
concurred  in  the  opinion  that  the  Scriptures  make 
Baptism  an  indispensable  prerequisite  to  the  Lord's 
Supper.* 

Amid  this  universal  agreement,  with  reference  to 
the  principle  of  communion,  there  could  have  been 
no  diversity  in  practice,  had  all  Christians  concurred, 
to  the  same  extent,  in  regard  to  the  ordinance  of 
baptism.  It  is  at  this  point  that  they  diverge. 
Had  there  remained  one  baptism,  as  well  as  one 
Lord,  and  one  faith,  there  would  have  been  but  one 
communion.  From  this  point  of  view,  it  is  easy  for 
a  candid  mind  to  understand  the  real  nature  of  the 
difference  between  Baptists  and  other  denominations, 
with  reference  to  the  Lord's  table.  The  former 
hold  that  nothing  but  the  immersion  of  a  believer  is 
baptism ;  but  as  they  maintain,  in  common  with 
other  denominations,  that  baptism  must  precede 
communion,  they  cannot  receive  any  one  who  has 
not  been  immersed.  It  is  perfectly  clear,  therefore, 
that  the  only  question  at  issue  between  them  and 
the  others,  is  as  to  what  constitutes  baptism.  To 
represent  the  matter  otherwise,  for  the  purpose  of 
arraying  prejudices  against  them,  and  enlisting  the 
passions  where  reason  fails,  is  ungenerous  as  well  as 

♦Booth,  Vindic.  Bap.  Sec.   1.    Bemington,  Def.  of  Ro 
itricted  Communion.    King,  Prim.  Ch  P.  II.  ch.  vi. 


CHUKCH    POLITY.  211 

unfair.  Yet  upon  no  point  have  the  Baptists  been 
so  frequently  assailed  or  so  generally  misrepresented. 
To  receive  uniramersed  persons  to  their  communion, 
would  amount  not  only  to  a  virtual  renunciation  of 
their  own  views  of  baptism,  but  an  abandonment  of 
the  fundamental  law  of  communion,  in  the  churches 
of  Christ  in  general.  And  yet,  because  they  refuse 
to  do  this,  the  cry  of  bigotry  is  raised  against  them. 
It  would  be  well  for  those  who  are  disposed  to  join  in 
this  cry,  to  consider  what  respect  they  could  have 
for  persons  who  would  thus  betray,  at  once,  their 
own  principles  and  the  common  principles  of  the 
Christian  world.* 

*  For  a  more  full  discussion  of  this  topic,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  Dr.  Howe  Vs  work  on  Communion.  Phila.,  A. 
B.  P.  Society.     1847 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

RELATION    OF  CHURCHES    TO    EACH    OTHER. 

Although  the  churches  of  Jesus  Christ  are  inde- 
pendent bodies,  yet  as  they  are  constituted  on  the 
same  principles,  acknowledging  one  Lord,  one  faith, 
one  baptism,  and  aim  at  the  same  great  end,  the 
spread  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  it  is  their  duty 
to  maintain  friendly  intercourse  and  fellowship  with 
each  other,  for  the  promotion  of  their  mutual  inte- 
rests and  their  common  welfare.  In  visible  or- 
ganization they  are  many  ;  but  in  spirit,  in  doctrine, 
in  design,  they  are  one.* 

This  friendly  relation  is  evinced  by  admitting  one 
another's  members  to  transient  communion,  dismiss- 
ing and  receiving  members  to  and  from  each  other, 
and  by  affording  assistance  and  giving  advice  in  cases 
of  difficulty  or  need.  One  church  may  send  spiritual 
teachers  to  another.  Such  were  sent  by  the  church 
in  Jerusalem  to  the  church  in  Antioch.f  They  may 
supply  each  other's  temporal  necessities.  J     In  cases 

*  1  Cor.  12  :  13;  Eph.  4:5;  6  :  18;  Jno.  17:  20—26; 
Rom.  16  :  1,  2  ;  3  Jno.  8—10  ;  Acts  15. 

t  Acts  11  :  22—27 ;  15  :  22—27 ;  18  :  27 ;  Eph.  6  :  21 ;  1 
Cor.  16  :  15—18 

+  1  Cor.  16 :  1—3 ;  2  Cor.  8 :  1—4,  13—24 ;  9  :  1—15 ;  Rom. 
15 :  26. 


CHURCH    POLITY.  ^1^ 

of  perplexity  menacing  therr  peace  or  purity,  they 
may  avail  themselves  of  the  services  of  their  bre- 
thren, by  seeking  the  advice  of  presbyteries  or  coun- 
cils, composed  of  the  pastors  and  delegated  members 
of  sister  churches.  "  A  council  has  no  power  what- 
ever but  to  examine,  and  give  its  opinion  and  advice. 
It  can  exercise  no  control.  Its  office  is  to  give 
light,  not  to  pronounce  decrees."  *  The  decision 
of  the  case,  whatever  it  may  be,  must  rest  upon  the 
final  determination  of  the  church. 

Some  of  the  objects  contemplated  in  the  institu- 
tion of  Christian  churches,  can  be  best  secured  by 
their  cooperation  ;  as  the  general  spread  of  the  gos- 
pel, the  gathering  of  new  churches,  the  education 
of  the  ministry,  and  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  other  religious  books.  This  principle  was  re- 
cognized by  the  apostles,  and  the  churches  which 
they  founded.  The  church  in  Antioch  sent  forth 
Paul  and  Barnabas  on  a  missionary  excursion,  and 
other  churches  cordially  aided  in  their  support.f 
To  accomplish  these  objects,  churches,  at  the  pre- 
sent day,  unite  in  Associations,  and  through  them, 
in  a  general  Convention. 

An  association  consists  of  delegates  or  messengers 
from  different  particular  churches.  As  the  union  of 
the  members  of  a  particular  church  is  founded  on 

*  Bacon's  Manual,  p.  145. 

t  Acts  13:2,3;  2  Cor.  11  :  8, 12  :  13,18;  Phil.  6  •  10-18. 


214  CHURCH   POLITY. 

uniformity  of  faith  and  practice,  so  the  union  of 
churches  in  a  general  body  rests  upon  the  same 
principles.  Thus  constituted,  an  association  is  not 
armed  with  coei'cive  powers.  Its  authority  is  repre- 
sentative, executive,  advisory.  To  execute  the 
wishes  of  the  churches,  in  reference  to  the  objects 
for  which  it  was  organized,  and  to  ofier  its  advice, 
in  cases  which  involve  the  common  interest  of  the 
confederation,  are  all  that  it  may  lawfully  do. 
Should  any  of  the  churches  included  in  the  associa- 
tion depart  from  the  principles  of  the  union,  by  em- 
bracing error,  abusing  its  power  over  its  members, 
or  neglecting  attendance  on  the  meetings  of  the  asso- 
ciation, it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  this  body  to  re- 
monstrate, to  advise,  and  if  the  church  proves  in- 
corrigible, to  withdraw  fellowship  from  it;  "for  if 
the  agreement  of  several  distinct  churches  in  sound 
doctrine  and  regular  practice,  be  the  binding  motive, 
ground,  foundation,  or  basis  of  their  confederation, 
then  it  must  naturally  follow,  that  a  defection  in 
doctrine  or  practice,  in  any  church  in  that  confeder- 
ation, or  any  part  in  any  such  church,  is  ground 
sufficient  for  an  association  to  withdraw  from  such  a 
church  or  party  so  deviating  or  making  defection, 
and  exclude  such  from  them  in  formal  manner,  and 
to  advertise  all  the  churches  in  their  confederation 
thereof,  in  order  that  all  the  churches  in  confedera- 
tion may  withdraw  from  such  in  all  acts  of  church 


CHURCH    POLITY.  215 

communion,  to  the  end  that  they  may  be  ashamed, 
and  that  all  the  churches  may  discountenance  such, 
and  bear  testimony  against  the  defection.  Such 
withdrawing  from  a  defective  or  disorderly  church, 
is  such  as  arises  from  voluntary  confederation  afore- 
said,  and  not  only  from  the  general  duty  that  is 
incumbent  upon  all  orthodox  persons  and  churches 
to  do,  where  no  such  confederation  is  entered  into, 
as  2  Cor.  16  :  16,  17  ;  and  although  an  association 
ought  not  to  assume  a  power  to  excommunicate,  or 
deliver  a  disorderly  or  defective  church  to  Satan  (as 
some  about  us  claim),  yet  it  is  a  power  sufficient  to 
exclude  the  delegates  of  a  disorderly  or  defective 
church  from  an  association,  and  to  refuse  their  pres- 
ence at  their  consultations,  and  advise  all  the  church- 
es in  confederation  to  do  so  too."  * 

The  benefits  arising  from  an  association  of  church- 
es are  many.  "  In  general,  it  will  tend  to  maintain 
the  truth,  order,  and  discipline  of  the  gospel.  1. 
By  it  the  churches  may  have  such  doubts  as  arise 
amongst  them  cleared,  which  will  prevent  disputes. 
Acts  15  :  28,  29.  2.  They  will  be  furnished  with 
salutary  counsel.  Prov.  11  :  14.  3.  Those 
churches  which  have  no  ministers  may  obtain  occa- 
sional supplies.  Cant.  8:8.  4.  The  churches 
will  be  more  closely  united  in  promoting  the  cause 

*  Power  and  Duty  of  an  Association,  by  Rev.  B.  Griffith, 
adopted  by  the  Philadelphia  and  Charleston  Associations. 


216  CUURCH    POLITY. 

and  interest  of  Christ.  5.  A  member  who  is 
aggrieved  through  partiaUty,  or  any  other  wrongs 
received  from  the  church,  may  have  an  opportunity 
of  applying  for  direction.  6.  A  godly  and  sound 
ministry  will  be  encouraged,  while  a  ministry  that  is 
unsound  and  ungodly  will  be  discountenanced.  7. 
There  will  be  a  reciprocal  communication  of  their 
gifts.  Phil.  4  :  15.  8.  Ministers  may  alternately 
be  sent  out  to  preach  the  gospel  to  those  who  are 
destitute.  Gal.  2:9.  9.  A  large  party  may 
draw  oflffrom  the  church,  by  means  of  an  intruding 
minister,  or  otherwise,  and  the  aggrieved  may  have 
no  way  of  obtaining  redress  but  from  the  association. 
10.  A  church  may  become  heretical,  with  which 
its  godly  members  can  no  longer  communicate ;  yet 
can  obtain  no  relief  but  by  the  association.  11. 
Contentions  may  arise  betwixt  churches,  which  the 
association  is  most  likely  to  remove.  12.  The 
churches  may  have  candidates  for  the  muiistry  pro- 
perly tried  by  the  association."  * 

Conventions  are  composed  of  delegates  from  asso- 
ciations, churches,  and  other  religious  bodies.     The 

*  Summary  of  Church  Discipline,  ch.  "vi.  published  by  D. 
Sheppard,  in  the  volume  before  referred  to.  Charleston, 
1831.  On  this  subject  see,  also,  A  Treatise  on  Church 
Discipline,  in  the  same  volume,  ch.  x.,  xi.  GriflBth's  Essay, 
pp.  231 — 237.  Baptist  Confession  of  Faith,  ch.  xxvii.,  §  14, 
15.  Crowell's  Manual,  pp.  86,  266.  Punchard  on  Congre- 
gationalism, pp.  103,  119.  Bacon's  Manual,  ch.  vii.  Gran- 
tham's ChristianisBius  Primitivus,  6.  II.  ch.  x. 


CHURCH    POLITV.  217 

general  principles  upon  which  they  are  founded, 
and  the  uses  which  they  subserve,  are  the  same  as 
those  which  obtain  in  the  organization  of  associations. 
In  this  country,  a  convention  is  held  annually  in 
each  of  the  States,  and  a  general  convention  is 
held  triennially,  consisting  of  delegates  from  many 
States.  The  latter  is  an  organization  for  missionary 
purposes  alone,  contemplating  the  introduction  of 
the  gospel  into  destitute  regions,  and  its  diffusion 
throughout  the  world. 

Such  is  the  scriptural  relation  of  churches  to  each 
other ;  such  are  the  confederations  which  are  permit- 
ted and  sanctioned  by  the  word  and  the  spirit  of  Chiist ; 
and  of  such  alone  have  we  any  record  in  the  early 
annals  of  Christianity.  All  other  confederations, 
not  deriving  their  powers  from  the  consent  of  the 
churches,  and  claiming  a  divine  right  of  jurisdiction 
over  them,  are  the  growth  of  later  and  corrupt 
times.  The  history  of  their  origin,  development, 
and  fearful  ascendency,  is  replete  with  warning  and 
admonition.* 

*  Htlllmaim  Kirchenverfassimg,  §  31 — 35.  Coleman's 
Christ.  Antiq.  pp.  356—367.  Prim.  Ch.  chap.  viii.  King's 
Prim.  Ch.  P.  I.  chap.  viii.  Mosheim  (Ed.  Murdock),!.  pp. 
86,  142-4.  Waddington,  Eccl.  Hist.  p.  44.  Gieseler,  I.  pp. 
96,  102,  152. 

19 


CHAPTEll    XVII. 

ADVANTAGES   OF   SCRIPTURAL   CHURCH   POLITY. 

Bepore  proceeding  to  enumerate  the  advantages 
of  the  divine  plan 'of  ecclesiastical  organization  and 
government,  I  shall  present  a  condensed  summary 
of  the  principles  which  have  been  established  in  the 
foregoing  investigations.  The  Scriptures  teach  that 
the  Christian  Church  —  the  Holy  Church  Catholic 
— -id  the  spiritual  i^ody  of  the  Redeemer,  and  is 
composed  of  those,  in  every  age  of  the  world,  who 
are  spiritually  renewed,  and  vitally  allied  to  their 
Great  Head.  Some  have  already  ascended  to 
heaven,  others  are  sci^i^ing  him  upon  earth,  and  an 
innumerable  multitude  are  yet  to  be  bom.  The 
number  will  be  complete  when  they  are  assembled 
at  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ.  This  church  uni- 
versal has  its  earthly  representative,  or  antitype,  in 
a  particular  visible  church.  Each  particular  church 
is  a  local  society,  composed  of  persons  who  have 
been  baptized  upon  a  credible  profession  of  faith  in 
the  Son  of  God,  and  have  solemnly  covenanted  to 
walk  together  in  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  acknowl- 
edging Christ  as  their  Lord,  and  his  word  as  their 
infallible  guide.     Upon  such  a  church,  Christ  has 


CBURCU    POLITY.  219 

conferred  the  prerogative  of  eelf-govemment,  under 
his  laws.  It  is  the  right  and  duty  of  a  church  to 
interpret  these  laws  for  itself,  and  to  declare  what  it 
considers  the  will  of  Christ  to  be,  with  reference  to 
doctrines,  ordinances,  moral  duties,  the  terms  of 
communion,  and  church  order,  and  to  govern  all  its 
members  accordingly;  to  receive,  persons  to  fellow- 
ship and  to  expel  offenders  ;  and  to  choose  its  own 
officers.  In  the  execution  of  the  laws  of  Christ,  it 
is  responsible  solely  to  Him.  Churches  are  therefore 
independent  of  each  other,  so  far  as  coercive  inter- 
ference is  concerned ;  yet  they  sustain  an  intimate 
relationship ;  are  bound  to  promote,  in  all  lawful 
ways,  each  other's  welfare  ;  and  to  unite  their  efforts 
in  the  general  advancement  of  the  Redeemer's  king- 
dom. A  church  when  fully  organized  is  furnished 
with  two  classes  of  officers,  one  of  them  haying  spe- 
cial charge  of  its  spiritual  interests,  the  other,  of  its 
temporal  or  secular  concerns.  In  these  classes, 
there  is  no  distinction  in  grade.  All  bishops  are 
of  equal  rank,  and  so  are  all  deacons. 

Such  is  the  scriptural  church  polity,  as  adopted 
by  Baptist  churches,  in  opposition  to  all  other  exist- 
ing systems.  It  differs  from  all  sorts  of  prelacy, 
Roman,  Oriental,  Episcopal,  and  Wesleyan,  by  the 
principle,  that  all  the  servants  of  Christ  in  the  work 
of  the  gospel  are  of  equal  rank.  It  is  distinguished 
from  Episcopacy  and  Presbyterianism,  by  the  princi- 


220  CirURCII    I'OLITY. 

pie  that  the  only  organized  church  is  a  particular 
church,  a  society  of  believers,  who  statedly  meet  in 
one  place,  for  the  transaction  of  its  business.  It, 
therefore,  excludes  every  such  thing  as  a  provincial 
Or  national  church,  the  aggregation  of  churches,  and 
the  centralization  or  consolidation  of  church  power. 
It  is  distinguished  from  all  churches  established  by 
law,  by  asking  no  aid  from  the  civil  ruler,  and 
denying  to  him  all  right  to  interfere  with  it.s  con- 
cerns. It  differs  from  these  systems  by  tlie  princi- 
ple that  all  church  power  resides  in  the  church,  and 
not  in  its  officers  ;  and  resides  in  each  church 
directly  and  originally  by  virtue  of  the  voluntary 
compact  of  its  members,  under  its  divine  charter. 
In  fine,  it  is  distinguished  from  all  other  systems  by 
the  principle  that  every  individual  is  personally 
responsible  for  his  religious  acts  and  exercises,  that 
no  infant  is  bom  a  member  of  the  church,  nor  can 
be  made  such  by  any  ecclesiastical  rite,  personal 
piety  being  insisted  on  as  an  indispensable  qualifica- 
tion for  membership. 

In  our  estimate  of  the  advantages  of  scriptural 
chxirch  polity,  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish  between 
the  legitimate  tendencies  of  the  system  and  its 
actual  results.  As  the  gospel  contemplates  the 
perfect  holiness  of  its  possessors,  but,  in  consequence 
of  the  deep-seated  depravity  of  the  human  heart, 
never  accomplishes  it  in  the  present   life,  so   the 


CHURCH   POLIHY.  221 

direct  tendencies  of  the  divine  plan  of  church  order 
are  retarded  and  counterworked  by  other  influences, 
which  prevent  their  complete  development,  in  the 
actual  condition  of  the  churches,  An  approximation 
to  the  high  standard  of  the  Scriptures  is  all  tljat  can 
reasonably  be  expected.* 

I.  The  scriptural  church  polity  effects  an  entue 
separation  between  the  church  and  the  world,  the 
regenerate  and  the  unregenerate.  By  its  requisition 
of  personal  piety  in  all  who  approach  its  ordinances 
and  enjoy  its  special  privileges,  it  gives  to  the 
household  of  faith  a  distinctive  character,  and  makes 
it  a  witness  for  God,  in  the  midst  of  a  world  lying 
in  wickedness.  Had  the  true  principles  of  church 
polity  been  universally  recognized,  no  ecclesiastical 
establishments  would  ever  have  existed,  empowered 
by  the  civil  magistrate  to  subjugate  the  conscience, 
and  employing  pains  and  penalties  to  enforce  tho 
reception  of  its  dogmas.  The  spiritual  despotism 
of  pampered  hierarchies  would  have  been  unknown, 

*  This  obvious  principle  furnishes  a  satisfactory  reply  to 
all  such  special  pleading  as  is  found  in  Marshall's  Notes  on 
Episcopacy,  chapter  V.  It  might  be  easily  shown  that  the 
Church  of  England,  of  which  this  writer  is  so  strenuous  an 
advocate,  is,  in  the  language  of  one  of  her  own  sons,  "the 
child  of  regal  and  aristocratical  selfishness  and  unprinci- 
pled tyranny,  and  bears  and  has  ever  borne  the  marks  of 
her  birth."  Dr.  Arnold.  Life  and  Correspondence,  p.  478. 
Appleton  &  Co.,  New  York. 

19* 


222  CHURCH   POLITY. 

and  the  gospel  would  have  been  left  free  to  achieve 
its  triumphs  by  its  own  sublime  and  incomparable 
power.  Christ's  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.  His 
churches  ask  nothing  of  the  civil  ruler  but  what 
every  citizen,  Jew  or  Grentile,  may  lawfully  claim  — 
protection  in  the  just  exercise  of  their  rights  and 
privileges.  They  have  no  right  to  invoke  the  aid  of 
government  to  sustain  the  distinctive  institutions, 
rites,  or  doctrines  of  Christianity.  Legal  compulsion, 
in  reference  to  the  affairs  of  the  soul,  besides  being 
absurd,  is  an  impious  invasion  of  the  supremacy  of 
the  Most  High,  and  the  worst  form  which  human 
tyranny  can  assume.* 

n.  Another  advantage  of  the  scriptural  form 
of  church  government  is,  that  it  promotes  general 
intelligence  among  the  members  of  the  church. 

Where  the  government  of  a  church  is  entrusted 
to  one,  or  to  a  select  portion  of  its  members,  the 
rest  feel  relieved  of  all  responsibility;  but  where 
all  are  interested,  and  are  solemnly  charged  with 
the  management  of  its  concerns,  all  must  appreciate 
their  obligation  to  study  the  word  of  God,  devoutly 
and  carefully,  that  they  may  become  familiar  with 
the  great  principles  by  which  they  are  to  be  guided. 
The  consciousness  of  occupying  so  solemn  and 
dignified  a  position,  cannot  but  exert  the  happiest 

*  Ilaldane,  Social  Worship,  chap.  XIV. 


OHITRCH    POLITY.  223 

influence  on  the  mind.  When  it  is  remembered  by 
the  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  it  is  his  high 
privilege  to  share,  directly,  in  the  reception  of 
members  into  the  church,  the  exercise  of  discipline, 
the  choice  of  officers,  and  everything  else  that 
affects  the  prosperity  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom, 
he  has  the  strongest  possible  inducement  to  prepare 
himaelf  for  the  proper  performance  of  his  duties. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  peculiarities  of 
our  polity.  Other  forms  may  be  expected  to  secure 
these  advantages  only  in  proportion  as  they  approach 
the  scriptural  standard. 

III.  Scriptural  church  polity  is  best  fitted  to 
maintain  the  purity  of  the  churches. 

It  is  readily  granted  that  the  freedom  of  our  gov- 
ernment —  the  right  of  the  people  to  choose  their 
own  pastors,  and  in  every  other  respect  to  manage 
their  own  ecclesiastical  affairs,  —  demands  an  asferre- 

DO 

gate  of  wisdom  and  piety  greater  than  is  needed 
under  other  forms.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  scriptural  church  polity  involves  a  scriptural 
constituency.  The  members  of  a  church  become 
such,  only  after  an  entire  moral  transformation. 
They  profess  to  have  been  born  again,  taught  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  brought  into  subjection  to  his 
will.  Grenuine  piety  in  the  mass  of  the  members 
constitutes  the  surest  pledge  of  purity,  and  the 
most  effectual  rampart  against  false  doctrine,  heresy, 


224  CHURCH    POLITV. 

and  general  corruption.  There  is  much  less  danger 
that  the  majority  of  the  church  will  become  unsound, 
than  that  a  few  men,  claiming  to  he  their  authorita- 
tive guides,  will  swerve  from  the  faith. 

IV.  It  best  secures  the  rights  of  individual 
members. 

Should  a  member  be  aggrieved  by  any  of  his 
brethren,  whether  private  or  official,  he  may  apply 
for  redress  to  the  church.  He  is  not  subject  to  the 
control,  nor  liable  to  suffer  from  the  caprice,  of  any 
irresponsible  power.  Trial  by  jury  Ls  justly  regard- 
ed as  the  palladium  of  personal  rights.  In  a 
Christian  church,  a  member,  when  arraigned  upon 
any  charge,  enjoys  the  benefit  of  trial  by  a  juiy  of 
his  peers,  composed  of  all  his  fellow-members. 
There  is,  therefore,  every  reason  to  expect  an  impar- 
tial verdict. 

V.  Another  advantage  of  the  scriptural  polity 
is  found  in  the  motives  which  it  suggests  to  dili- 
gence, activity,  and  fidelity  in  the  ministry. 

The  direct  accountability  of  rulers  to  the 
people  is  a  principle  of  vast  importance,  and  its 
beneficial  influence  is  cleariy  recognized  in  the  best 
forms  of  civil  government.  An  officer  of  the  church 
is  amenable  to  his  brethren  for  the  proper  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  his  station.  Should  he  become 
negligent,  indolent,  heretical,  or  corrupt,  he  may  be 
deposed.     He  cannot  continue,  as  under  some  other 


CHURCH   POLITY.  225 

systems,  to  be  an  inoubus  to  the  church,  and  a  scan- 
dal to  the  cause  of  Christ. 

VI.  Scriptural  church  polity  is  favorable  to 
human  progress,  —  to  the  establishment  of  free 
institutions. 

It  recognizes  distinctly  the  democratic  principle, 
that  the  people  are  the  source  of  power  —  the  foun- 
tain of  all  legitimate  authority  —  whUe,  at  the  same 
time,  it  guards  against  its  abuses,  by  the  limitations 
of  a  written  constitution.  The  church  does  not 
interfere  with  the  state,  it  enjoins  obedience  to 
rulers,  and  may  exist  under  any  form  of  civil 
government ;  but  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the 
spirit  which  pervades  its  polity  is  eminently  con- 
ducive to  the  political  welfare  of  mankind,  and  the 
general  advancement  of  free  principles.  A  people 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  our  ecclesiasti- 
cal organization,  republicans  in  church  as  well  as 
state,  will  be  faithful  guardians  of  the  public  weal, 
and  every  church  will  prove  a  citadel  of  defence 
against  tyranny.  The  intimate  relation  which 
subsists  between  ecclesiastical  and  civil  freedom  is 
too  often  overlooked.  They  are  twin  sisters,  and 
live  or  die  together.  He  who  surrenders  his  relig- 
ious rights  to  the  clergy,  or  commits  the  keeping  of 
his  conscience  to  them,  and  submits  to  be  ruled  by 
them,  whether  in  councils  or  conferences,  renounces 
his  Christian  birth-right,  and,  as  he  has  become  the 


226  CHURCH   POLITY. 

voluntary  slave  of  a  priest,  he  may,  at  any  time,  be 
made  the  vassal  of  a  tyrant.* 

VII.  Another  striking  feature  of  the  system 
which  I  have  delineated  from  the  word  of  God, 
and  the  last  that  I  shall  mention,  is  its  simplicity. 

It  presents  no  imposing  visible  organization, 
recognizes  no  priesthood  clothed  with  mysterious 
powers ;  symbolizes  with  none  of  the  superstitions 
of  the  world,  "  gay  religions,  full  of  pomp  and 
gold."  The  principles  of  church  polity  are  level 
to  the  comprehension  of  all  who  are  qualified  for 
membership  in  a  church.  There  are  no  wheels 
within  wheels,  inferior  and  superior  courts  of 
judicature,  no  intricate  machinery,  nothing  in  the 
government  of  a  church  which  a  plain  man  may 
not  understand.  Its  practicability,  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, is  one  of  its  best  recommendations.! 

*  "I  am  convinced,"  says  Dr.  Arnold,  "  that  the  whole 
mischief  of  the  great  anti-christian  apoStacy  has  for  its 
root  the  tenet  of  a  priestly  government  transmitted  by  a 
mystical  succession  from  the  apostles."  Life,  p.  320. 
Again,  "  That  the  church  system,  or  rather  the  priest  sys- 
tem, is  not  to  be  found  in  the  Scriptures,  is  as  certain  as 
that  the  worship  of  Jupiter  is  not  the  doctrine  of  the 
gospel."    p.  409. 

t  The  limits  to  which  I  proposed  to  confine  myself,  in 
this  chapter,  permitted  nothing  beyond  a  cursory  glance  at 
some  of  the  advantages  of  the  revealed  polity.  For  a  more 
extensive  view  of  the  subject,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Pun- 
chard  on  Congregationalism,  Part  V.  Haldane's  Social 
Worship,  chap.  XIII.    Christian  Eeview,  May,  1846. 


CHUECH    POLITY.  227 

The  following  anecdote  was  communicated  to  the  Chris- 
tian Watchman  several  years  ago,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Fishback, 
of  Lexington,  Ky. 

"  Mr.  Editor.  —  The  following  circumstance  which  occurr- 
ed in  the  state  of  Virginia,  relative  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  was 
detailed  to  me  by  Elder  Andrew  Tribble,  about  six  years 
ago,  who  since  died  when  ninety-two  or  three , years  old. 
The  facts  may  interest  some  of  your  readers.  Andrew  Trib- 
ble was  the  pastor  of  a  small  Baptist  church,  which  held  its 
monthly  meetings  at  a  short  distance  from  Mr.  Jefferson's 
house,  eight  or  ten  years  before  t)ie  American  revolution. 
Mr.  Jefferson  attended  the  meetings  of  the  church  for 
several  months  in  succession,  and  after  one  of  them,  asked 
Elder  Tribble  to  go  home  and  dine  with  him,  with  which  he 
complied. 

"Mr.  Tribble  asked  Mr.  .Jefferson  how  he  was  pleased 
with  their  church  government.  Mr.  Jefferson  replied,  that 
it  had  struck  him  with  great  force,  and  had  interested  him 
much ;  that  he  considered  it  the  only  form  of  pure  democ- 
racy that  then  existed  in  the  world,  and  had  concluded  that 
it  would  be  the  best  plan  of  government  for  the  American 
colonies.  This  was  several  years  before  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  To  what  extent  this  practical  exhibition  of 
religious  liberty  and  equality  operated  on  Mr.  Jefferson's 
mind,  in  forming  his  views  and  principles  of  religious  and 
civil  freedom,  which  were  so  ably  exhibited,  I  will  not»ay." 


CHAPTEE   XVIII. 

CORRUPTION    OF   SCRIPTURAL    CHURCH   POLITY. 

The  simple  and  beautiful  system  of  ecclesiastical 
polity  which  was  established  by  the  inspired  found- 
ers of  the  primitive  churches,  retained  only  for  a 
brief  period  its  original  perfection  and  symmetry. 
The  innovations  and  corruptions  which  menaced  it 
were  distinctly  foreseen  by  the  apostles  themselves. 
Paul  said  to  the  elders  of  the  church  of  Ephesus, 
"  I  know  this,  that  after  my  departing  shall  grievous 
wolves  enter  in  among  you,  not  sparing  the  flock."  * 
John  encountered  the  opposition  of  one  of  these 
disturbers  of  the  peace,  in  the  person  of  Diotrephes, 
who  was  so  inflamed  with  the  passion  for  preemi- 
nence that  he  rejected  the  authority  of  the  apostle 
himself,  t  Thus  we  find  the  germs  of  corruption 
existing  even  in  the  primitive  churches.  To  antici- 
pate their  development  and  counteract  their  insidious 
influence,  the  apostles  lifted  their  voices  in  solemn 
warning  and  remonstrance.  Notwithstanding  this, 
the  churches  began  to  decline  from  the  apostolic 
order  before  the  close  of  the  second  century,  and 

•  Acts  20  :  29. 

t  3  Jno.  9 ;  cf.  Clem.  Ep.  ad  Cor.  §  14. 


CHUBCH   POLIIT.  229 

\ 

even  within  the  lifetime  of  some  who  had  been  con- 
temporary with  the  inspired  teachers.  The  causes 
and  the  manner  of  this  transition  will  now  be  briefly 
indicated.  While  the  early  corruptions  of  church 
polity  are  to  be  ascribed  mainly  to  the  pride  and 
ambition  of  the  clergy,  it  must  be  confessed  that 
other  causes  contributed  to  these  deplorable  results. 

I.  The  excellences  by  which  the  primitive  pas- 
tors were  distinguished,  proved  one  of  the  earliest 
occasions  of  corruption  to  the  churches. 

The  position  of  a  Christian  pastor,  in  those  days, 
was  one  of  great  peril.  In  all  persecutions  for  the 
truth's  sake,  the  storm  spent  its  fury  chiefly  upon 
him  ;  and  the  steadfastness  with  which  he  endured 
its  violence,  entitled  him  to  the  love  and  confidence 
of  his  flock.  To  such  men,  who  were  ready  to  lay 
down  their  lives  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  the  churches 
naturally  supposed  that  they  might  entrust  their 
dearest  rights.  Their  members,  scattered  by  perse- 
cution, and  prevented  j&rom  meeting  together  for  the 
management  of  their  ecclesiastical  affairs,  were 
induced  by  the  necessity  of  the  case  to  commit 
them  to  the  hands  of  their  pastors,  and  thus  an  un- 
scriptural  authority  was  given  to  religious  teachers. 
This  authority  was,  doubtless,  at  first  faithfully  ex- 
'ercised,  and  held  as  a  boon,  not  as  a  right ;  but,  in 
the  course  of  time,  the  origin  and  nature  of  the 
trust  were  overlooked,  and  their  ambitious  succes- 
20 


280  CHUBCH   POLITY. 


sors  claimed  a  divine  right  to  dictate  to  the  churches 
and  control  their  movements.  The  tendency  of 
power  to  pass  from  the  many  to  the  few,  is  strong 
under  any  circumstances ;  but  it  is  particularly  so, 
when  the  transfer  is  prompted  by  reverence  for 
elevated  piety,  and  gratitude  for  distinguished  ser- 
vices. This  was  the  case  with  the  early  churches. 
The  lamentable  consequences  of  their  defection 
should  prove  a  warning  to  all  other  churches,  and 
impress  them  with  the  importance  of  guarding  their 
rights  against  the  aggression  of  even  the  most  wise 
and  pious  men.  Clerical  despotism  reaches  its  im- 
perial elevation  by  slow  and  almost  imperceptible 
advances ;  it  is  the  first  step  that  is  the  most  dan- 
gerous. 

The  sentiment  of  respect  for  superior  excellence, 
to  which  I  have  adverted,  led,  also,  to  a  change  in 
the  relations  of  the  ministers  among  themselves. 
"  After  the  death  of  the  apostles  and  the  pupils  of 
the  apostles,  to  whom  the  general  direction  of  the 
churches  had  always  been  conceded,  some  one 
amongst  the  presbyters  of  each  church  was  suffered 
gradually  to  take  the  lead  in  its  affairs.  In  the 
same  irregular  way  the  title  of  bishop  was  appro- 
priated to  this  first  presbyter."  * 

n.  Another  cause  of  the  corruption  of  the 
apostolic  church  polity  is  found  in  the  ascendency 

♦  Gieseler,  Ch.  Hist.  1,  §  2.    Hallmann,  S.  20. 


CHURCH  POLITY. 


231 


of  the  churches  in  the  cities  over  those  in  the  country. 

The  gospel  was  first  preached  in  large  cities  such 
as  Jerusalem,  Corinth,  and  Rome ;  churches  were 
founded  in  them,  and  thence,  as  from  centres  of  in- 
fluence, Christianity  was  extended  in  the  surround- 
ing regions.  Visitants  to  the  city  were  converted, 
and  connected  with  the  metropolitan  church ;  and, 
in  process  of  time,  when  their  number  became 
sufficiently  large,  they  were  constituted  into  church- 
es in  the  country.  These  churches  naturally  looked 
to  the  mother  church  for  aid  and  counsel,  received 
their  first  pastors  from  it,  and  were  in  constant  in- 
tercourse with  it.  They  were  regarded  as  branches 
of  the  metropolitan  church.  "  In  this  connection 
and  coalition,  between  the  original  church  and  the 
smaller  ones  that  sprang  up  around  it,  began  that 
change  in  the  original  organization  of  the  apostolical 
churches  which  gave  rise  to  the  Episcopal  system, 
and  which  in  the  end  totally  subverted  the  primitive 
simplicity  and  freedom  in  which  the  churches  were 
at  first  founded."  * 

When  the  elders  of  the  city  churches  came  to 
have  a  president,  or  chief  presbyter,  charged  with 
the  general  supervision  of  its  afiairs,  his  jurisdiction 
was  extended  over  the  country  churches  connected 
with  it ;  and  in  this  way  diocesan  episcopacy  was 

♦  Coleman,  Prim.  Ch.  p.  249.    Gieseler,  I.  p.  103.    Holl- 
mann,  S.  22,  30. 


282  CHURCH    POLITT. 

introduced.  Had  the  independence  of  the  rural 
churches  been  maintained,  this  defection  from  prim- 
itive episcopacy  could  never  have  occurred. 

III.  The  original  polity  of  the  churches  was  cor- 
rupted by  the  introduction  of  the  doctrine  that  the 
ministers  of  the  Christian  church  were  the  successors 
of  the  Jewish  priesthood. 

If  this  notion  were  true,  of  course  the  Christian 
ministry  and  the  Jewish  priesthood  must  be  similar 
in  rank  and  station.  The  bishop  corresponded  to 
the  High  Priest,  the  presbyters  or  elders  to  the 
priests,  and  the  deacons  to  the  Levites.  They 
were  no  longer  incumbents  in  office  at  the  pleasure 
of  the  people,  and  dependent  upon  them,  but  were 
divinely  appointed  to  instruct  and  rule  them. 
"  When  once  the  idea  of  a  Mosaic  priesthood  had 
been  adopted  in  the  Christian  church,  the  clergy 
soon  began  to  assume  a  superiority  over  the  laity. 
The  customary  form  of  consecration  was  now  sup- 
posed to  have  a  certain  mystic  influence,  and  hence- 
forth they  stand  in  the  position  of  persons  appointed 
by  God  to  be  the  medium  of  communication  between 
him  and  the  Christian  world."  *  This  unscriptural 
and  impious  dogma  was  the  source  of  that  ghostly 
tyranny  which  presumed  to  extend  its  empire  over 
heaven  and  hell,  opening  or  shutting  their  gates  at 
pleasure,  and  by  its  subsequent  ascendency  kept  the 

*  Gieseler,  I,  p.  156.    .Mflnscher,  Handbuch,  iii.  S.  15. 


CHTJRCH   POLITY.  233 

Christian  world  for  centuries  in  a  worse  than 
Egyptian  bondage.* 

Another  effect  of  this  doctrine  was  the  claim  on 
the  part  of  the  clergy  to  tithes  for  their  support. 
Moreover,  they  argued  that  "  if  the  ministration  of 
condemnation  be  glory,  much  more  doth  the  minis- 
tration of  righteousness  exceed  in  glory" — and 
therefore  claimed  superior  contributions  in  tithes  and 
offerings  to  Christian  ministers.  "  And  what  is 
still  more  extraordinary,  by  sucb  wretched  reasoning 
the  bulk  of  mankind  were  convinced."  t 

IV.  The  institution  of  provincial  synods,  and  af- 
terwards of  general  councils,  contributed  its  influence 
to  the  subversion  of  the  primitive  polity  of  the 
churches. 

The  first  of  these  assemblies  was  held  against  the 
Montanists.  X  They  were  composed  originally  of 
the  representatives  of  independent  cburehes,  select- 
ed for  the  purpose  of  deliberating  upon  matters 
which  affected  their  common  interests.  From  these 
synods  the  laity  was  excluded ;  at  least  there  exists 
no  evidence  to  prove  that  any  but  the  clergy  took 
part  in  their  deliberations.     They   were  advisory 

*  Some  Protestant  ministers  in  this  country,  arrayed  in 
gown  or  surplice,  gravely  pretend  to  these  awful  preroga- 
tives.   Risum  teneatis,  amici  ? 

t  Campbell,  Lee.  Eccl.  Hist.  X,  P.  I.  Gibbon's  Rome, 
I.  p.  276. 

t  A.  D.  160, 170.    Euseb.  V.  16.    Gieseler,  1,  p.  102. 
20* 


CHURCH    POLITY. 

bodies,  and  if  their  decisions  assumed  the  form  of 
laws,  it  was  rather  by  common  consent  than  as 
imperative  enactments.  It  was  not  long,  however, 
before  they  presumed  to  claim  the  right  of  giving 
authoritative  laws  to  the  churches.  Their  original 
character,  as  deliberative  and  advisory  assemblies, 
was  exchanged  for  one  of  higher  pretensions, 
claiming  legislative  and  judicial  authority,  and  thus 
invading  the  independence  of  the  churches. 

These  synods  needed  a  moderator ;  and  as  they 
were  usually  held  in  the  capital  of  the  province,  the 
presiding  officer  of  the  city  church  was  commonly 
chosen.  The  position,  which  was  at  first  yielded  to 
him  from  a  spirit  of  courtesy,  was  afterward  claimed 
as  an  official  right.  The  institution  of  these  assem- 
blies thus  promoted  at  once  the  aggrandizement  of 
the  clergy  in  general,  and  the  exaltation  of  one  in 
each  province  to  a  position  of  vast  and  irresponsible 
power.  "  The  practical  effect  of  these  councils, 
from  the  beginning,  was  to  give  increasing  consider- 
ation and  influence  to  the  clergy,  which  continually 
increased,  until  it  finally  ended  in  the  full  establish- 
ment of  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy."  * 

The  history  of  these  ecclesiastical  assemblies  evin- 
ces that  it  is  not  without  reason  that  the  movements 

*  Coleman,  Chr.  Antiq.  p.  364.  Prim.  Ch.  chap.  viii. 
Waddington,  Ch.  Hist.  pp.  43—45.  Gibbon,  Rome,  I.  p. 
274.     Gieseler,  I,  $  66. 


CHXIRCH   POLITY. 


235 


of  similar  bodies,  at  the  present  day,  are  watched 
with  jealous  solicitude.  Associations  and  conven- 
tions ought  to  be  restricted  within  their  appropriate 
limits,  as  advisory  and  executive  bodies.  Any  at- 
tempt on  their  part  to  invade  the  independence  of 
the  churches,  by  controlling  their  faith  or  practice, 
or  assuming  the  supervision  of  matters  which  have 
not  been  entrusted  to  them,  should  be  promptly  and 
steadfastly  resisted. 

V.  The  doctrine  of  a  visible  church  catholic  may 
be  enumerated  among  the  causes  which  subverted 
the  primitive  ecclesiastical  order. 

This  notion,  which  was  early  developed,  necessa- 
rily blended  the  churches  together  under  a  uniform 
organization,  which  required  a  visible  head,  and 
led  directly  to  the  establishment  of  the  papacy. 
To  maintain  uniformity,  the  central  representative 
of  sovereignty  must  be  clothed  with  unlimited  power 
over  every  portion  of  the  vast  confederation.*  That 
this  doctrine  is  a  misconception  of  the  notion  of 
Christian  unity,  and  is  unsupported  by  the  word  of 
God,  has  already  been  shown. f 

•  Gieseler,  I,  §§  49,  66,  82.    Coleman,  Prim.  Ch.  p.  270. 

t  "  There  is,"  says  Dr.  Arnold,  "  a  societas  generis  huma- 
ni,  and  a  societas  hominum  Christianorum,  but  there  is  not 
one  respublica  or  civitas  of  either,  but  a  great  many.  The 
Roman  Catholics  say  there  is  but  one  respttblica,  and  there- 
fore, with  perfect  consistency,  they  say  that  there  must  be 
one  central  government." — Life,  p  166. 


236  CHURCH   POLITY. 

VI.  The  introduction  of  infant  baptism  was  an- 
other cause  of  the  corruption  of  church  polity. 

The  grounds  upon  which  this  rite  was  introduced, 
by  identifying  it  with  regeneration,  and  making  it 
essential  to  salvation,  placed  it  in  direct  antagonism 
to  the  genius  of  Christianity.  Besides  imparting 
increased  potency  to  the  cause  of  corruption,  which 
was  already  in  existence,  it  exercised  a  direct  and 
powerful  influence  upon  the  churches,  and,  in  the 
end,  effected  an  entire  revolution  in  their  polity. 
After  its  introduction,  the  churches  were  no  longer 
composed  of  believers  who  had  been  baptised  upon 
profession  of  their  faith  in  the  Redeemer ;  the  dis- 
tinction between  real  and  nominal  Christianity  waa 
obliterated :  forms  and  ceremonies  usurped  the  place 
of  vital  godliness ;  Christianity  itself  was  virtually 
repealed ;  and  the  pure  and  benign  system  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  degenerated  into  a  profane  and  cruel 
superstition. 


ADDENDA. 

[The  following  paragraphs,  -which  ought  to  have 
been  inserted  at  the  close  of  Chap.  VII.,  were  acci- 
dentally omitted :] 

If  it  be  the  duty  of  each  church,  as  a  separate 
and  independent  body,  to  bear  its  unequivocal  tes- 
timony to  the  truth,  it  is  equally  so  when  it  is 
united  with  others.  A  union  of  churches  upon 
grounds  that  permit  the  rejection  of  principles 
which  each  is  separately  pledged  to  sustain,  is  an 
absurdity  so  gross  and  palpable,  that  it  is  surpris- 
ing it  should  find  any  advocates.  It  has  indeed 
been  said  that  "uniformity  is  not  to  be  secured 
and  preserved  by  confederacies  of  churches,  confes- 
sions of  faith,  or  written  codes  or  formularies 
framed  by  man,  as  bonds  of  union  for  the  churches 
of  Christ.  "  *  To  this  it  may  be  replied,  that  whUe 
it  is  true  that  the  recognition  of  a  common  confes- 
sion does  not  always  secure  real  uniformity,  and 
this  will  always  be  the  case,  so  long  as  deceivers 
exist  who  are  base  enough  to  profess  what  they  do 
not  believe,  yet  this  method  aflfords  the  nearest  ap- 

•  Gospel  Developed,  By  W.  B.  Johnson,  D.  D.  p.  200. 


238  CHURCH   POLITY. 

proximation  which  can  be  made  to  so  desirable  a 
result.  Eeal  uniformity  can  exist  only  among 
those  who  "  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  are  per- 
fectly joined  together  in  the  same  mind  and  in  the 
same  judgment. "  1  Cor.  1 :  10.  A  union  of  contra- 
dictions is  an  impossibility.  Agreement  in  senti- 
ment is  the  bond  of  Christian  union.  "  I  have 
heard  a  great  deal,"  says  the  judicious  Fuller,  "  of 
union  without  sentiment ;  but  I  can  neither  feel  nor 
perceive  any  such  thing,  either  in  myself  or  others. 
All  the  union  that  I  can  feel  or  perceive  arises 
from  a  similarity  of  views  and  pursuits."  All 
other  grounds  of  union  are  impracticable  and  worth- 
less, and  all  the  hopes  of  ecclesiastical  prosperity  or 
denominational  enlargement  which  are  based  upon 
them  will  prove  deceptive  in  the  end.  "  Christian 
enlargement  is  not  accomplished  by  extending  our 
connections,  but  by  confining  them  to  persons  with 
whom  we  can  have  fellowship,  communion,  concord, 
and  a  mutual  participation  of  spiritual  interests  "* 

*  Fuller's  Works,  II.  pp.  657,  659.  Bacon's  Manual, 
App.  A.  For  a  further  vindication  of  written  articles  of 
faith,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Crowell's  Ch.  Mem. 
Manual,  pp.  71,  118,  and  especially  to  the  able  essays 
of  Andrew  Fuller,  on  creeds  and  subscriptions,  and 
similar  topics.  Works,  II.[p.  629,  seq.  In  a  work  entitled 
"  Social  Religion  Exemplified,  by  Rev.  M.  Maurice,"  p. 
64,  I  find  the  following  brief  statement  of  the  ends  sub- 
served by  a  confession  of  faith :  — 


CHURCH   POLITY. 


^Sd 


If  the  views  which  have  now  been  presented 
with  reference  to  the  rights  and  powers  of  Christian 
churches  be  correct,  they  are  placed  in  a  position  of 
great  eminence  and  responsibility.  All  the  author- 
ity which  Christ  has  not  reserved  to  himself,  he  has 
delegated  to  them.  They  are  the  guardians  of  his 
cause  upon  the  earth.  To  them  he  has  conmiitted 
a  solemn  and  responsible  trust.  It  is  their  impera- 
tive duty  to  retain  it  in  their  own  hands,  and  dis- 
charge the  duties  involved  in  it,  with  a  zeal  and  fi- 

"  Since  the  Bible  is  allowed  to  be  the  only  rule  of  faith 
and  practice,  and  a  very  sufficient  one,  what  need  was  there 
of  a  confession  of  faith  and  a  church  covenant  ?  It  is  re- 
plied: 1.  The  apostolic  churches  had  something  similar, 
called  the  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God,  and  the  form  of 
sound  words.  2.  Persons  may  in  general  subscribe  to  the 
Bible,  who  at  the  same  time  do  not  believe  its  contents,  as 
the  Sadducees  of  old  respecting  the  five  books  of  Moses, 
with  all  ancient  and  modem  heretics.  3.  A  collection  of 
the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God,  is  oi great  tise, 
that  in  their  light,  as  truths  of  the  greatest  importance, 
other  things  that  ofier  themselves  may  be  tried.  4.  This  is 
no  imposition,  because  all  men  have  an  equal  right  to  col- 
lect from  scripture  what  they  apprehend  to  be  the  princi- 
ples of  faith.  5.  An  explicit  declaration  of  our  principles 
is  honest  and  generous.  6.  Fundamental  principles,  col- 
lected into  one  consistent  view,  appear  with  stronger  evi- 
dence, and  make  deeper  impressions.  A  constellation 
gives  a  clearer  light  than  dispersed  stars.  7.  The  various 
heresies  in  the  world  make  it  necessary  there  should  be 
confessions  of  faith,  that  they  which  are  approved  may  be 
made  manifest." 


240  CHURCH  POUTT. 

delity  proportionate  to  the  honors  and  privileges  it 
confers.  The  fact  itself  is  a  noble  and  affecting  ap- 
peal to  their  best  sentiments,  and  it  should  be  the 
aim  of  the  churches  to  vindicate  the  wisdom  of  the 
Redeemer  in  their  organization,  by  proving  that 
the  trust  has  not  been  bestowed  in  vain. 


NOTICES    BY    THE    PRESS,    OF    THE    FIRST 
EDITION. 


The  following  are  some  of  the  notices  of  the  first  edition  : — 
"  The  Kingdom  of  Christ,  by  Rev.  J.  L.  Reynolds,  Prof,  of  Bib.  Lit. 
in  Mercer  University,  Ga. ,  constitutes  the  third^number  of  the  Period- 
ical Library.  The  subject  is  well  treated  by  the  author.  We  know 
of  no  work  on  the  nature  and  organization  of  the  church  better 
suited  to  general  circulation.  It  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every 
Baptist,  as  containing  a  brief,  but  clear  and  able  defence  of  the  doc- 
trine we  hold  concerning  the  constitution  of  the  Church  of  Christ." 
— South  Western  Baptist  Chronkle. 

"  Prof.  Reynolds  shows  in  this  little  work,  that  he  has  bestowed 
much  thought  upon  the  subject.  He  has  with  great  clearness  and 
force  exhibited  the  Polity  of  the  New  Testament,  and  traced  the 
gradual  departure  from  it  in  the  Churches  which  succeeded  those 
planted  by  the  Apostles." — Western  Baptist  Review. 

"  The  Kingdom  of  Christ.  An  exceedingly  able  little  work  bear- 
ing the  above  title,  has  just  been  received  troia  the  publisher.  It  is 
an  able  treatise  on  the  great  question  resi>ecting  Church  Polity.  It 
defends  the  sentiments  of  the  Baptists  with  much  power,  and  we 
hope  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  distinguished  author  will  be 
permitted  to  present  the  larger  volume  to  the  public." — Chrystal 
Fount. 

"  The  style  of  the  work  of  Prof.  Reynolds  is  very  handsome  ;  it 
exhibits  much  learning  and  research  ;  and  we  believe  every  position 
of  the  writer  meets  our  hearty  concurrence.  We  object  only  to  its 
brevity.  It  seems  to  be  the  abridgment  of  a  larger  design.  Bro.  R. 
will,  we  trust,  soon  write  out  his  views  on  the  whole  subject,  and 
place  them  before  the  public  in  a  more  perfect  form.  Meantime  we 
should  be  glad  to  see  this  work  in  the  hands  of  all  our  friends.  It 
is  the  cheapest  and  best  work  of  the  kind  in  the  nation." — Dr.  How- 
$U,  of  Tenn.  Baptist. 

21 


"  The  subject  of  tUs  work  has  receiyed  a  large  share  of  attention 
from  many  distinguished  men  during  the  last  year  or  two,  but  not 
more  than  it  has  deserved.  It  is  important,  especially  in  the  Churches 
that  adopt  the  form  of  Church  goremment  which  Baptists  hare 
always  advocated.  Bro.  Beynolds  has  done  much  service  in  tliis 
cause.  The  chapter  on  Church  Membership  is  worth  more  than  the 
price  of  the  book.    Buy  and  read  it." — Mississippi  Baptist. 


A    VALUABLE    WORK. 

JUST  published,  fary  HABAOLD  &  MUBBAT,  the  BCaiPTURE 
CATECHISM,  suitable  for  Bible  Clacses,  Sabbath  Schools,  Pamiliee, 
but  especially  for  the  instruction  of  Servants,  prepared  by  Rev. 
Robert  Ryland,  President  of  the  Richmond  College,  and  Pastor  of  the 
first  African  Baptist  Church,  Richmond,  Tirginia.    pp.  148.  ••18mo. 

The  work  is  divided  into  52  lessons,  or  one  fbr  each  week,  contain- 
ing the  following  subjects :  —  A  Divne  Revelation,  God  a  Spirit  ever 
present,  God  all  powerful,  God  eternal,  God  unchangeable.  The 
Truth  and  Justice  of  God,  The  Holiness  of  God,  The  Unity  of  (Jod  • 
God  the  Father,  Son  and  Spirit ;  God  the  Creator,  the  Providence  of 
God,  Angels,  Satan,  Man,  The  Fall  of  Man,  His  Depravity,  The  Law, 
The  Saviour,  Proofs,  Deity  of  Christ,  Humanity  do.,  The  Death  and 
Atonement  do..  The  Resurruction  of  do..  The  Exaltation  of  do.  Re- 
pentance, Faith,  Justification,  Adoption,  Sanctification,  Peirseverance, 
The  Holy  Spirit,  The  Divine  Purposes,  Death,  The  Resurrection,  The 
Judgment,  Heaven,  Hell,  The  Church,  The  Ministry,  The  Deacons, 
Baptism,  The  Lord's  Supper,  Church  Discipline,  Deportment,  Relative 
Duties,  Parents  and  Children,  Masters  and  Servants,  Civil  Authorities, 
Prayer,  Spread  of  the  Gospel. 

The  work  has  met  with  very  flattering  reception  by  all  who  have 
«iXMuined  it.    We  have  room  for  only  two  extracts. 

From  Rev.  Riehard  Fuller,  D.D.,  of  Baltimore. 

"  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  recommend  such  an  excellent  little  hodk 

as  the  Scripture  Catechism.     Its  fulness  and  simplicity,  and  (what  is 

rare)  the  aptness  of  the  questious  from  the  Bible,  reader  tiM  woric 

very  valuable." 


From  the  Baptist  Chuardian. 

"  The  plan  of  this  work,  as  might  he  expected,  is  plain  and  practi- 
cal, and  the  execntion  of  it  admirahly  accomplished,  bo  that  this 
little  volume  embraces  a  large  amount  of  scriptural  truth.  In  short, 
this  little  book  contains  a  system  of  theology  in  miniature.  Besides 
subserving  the  purpose  for  which  the  author  designed  it,  we  hope  to 
see  it  introduced  into  Sunday  Schools.  We  know  no  text-book  in 
theology,  we  can  so  confidently  recommend  for  this  purpose." 

Part  of  the  edition  is  so  bound  as  to  be  mailed.  To  persons  send- 
ing us, by  letter,  25  cents,  we  will  send  one  copy ;  one  dollar,  6  copies. 
HARROLD   &  MURRAY. 

■» 
From  Rev.  J.  B.  Jeter,  Richmond,  Va. 

Messrs.  Harrold  ^  Murray,  —  Having  examined,  with  some  cares 
the  Scripture  Catechism,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  it  an  excel- 
lent work,  admirably  adapted,  not  merely  to  the  instruction  of  colored 
people,  but  of  Bible  Classes  and  Christians  in  general.  The  plan  of 
the  work  I  consider  superior  to  that  of  any  I  have  seen ;  and  nothing 
is  needed  but  a  knowledge  of  its  advantages,  to  bring  it  into  general 
circulation. — J.  B.  Jeter. 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last 
date  stamped  below 


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